Injured bird on runway forces several flights from UK to abort landings at Malaga Airport

Several planes arriving at Malaga airport on Wednesday night had to carry out various safety manoeuvres and modify their course due to a problem they encountered on their descent. The problem in question was a large bird, "probably a flamingo", which was injured on runway 31, as reported by the air traffic controllers account on X'.

The presence of the bird resulted in several missed approaches, a manoeuvre in which aircraft have to stop their descent on landing and re-ascend, as conditions are not safe for landing, either at the discretion of pilots or air traffic controllers. At least one Ryanair flight from Nottingham and one Wizz Air flight arriving from London had to abort their landings. Shortly after the discovery, the airport was able to continue operating normally.

The presence of birds in the vicinity of airports is a problem for flights, as they can pose a major risk when taking off or landing. Earlier this month, an Iberia plane that had just taken off from Madrid to Paris had to return to the airport after hitting a vulture. The impact on the nose of the aircraft caused significant damage and the plane was unable to complete its flight. There were anxious moments, as the passengers could clearly feel the thud and the loss of power in the aircraft's engine.

To minimise these incidents, airports have specialised teams to avoid the presence of animals near the runways. In the case of Malaga Airport, the fauna control service employs hawks, eagles and goshawks to chase away birds and other animals that could affect landings and take-offs.