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After suffering a bird strike, a China Southern aircraft lost its entire radome during its initial climb out of Shanghai. This resulted in the aircraft stopping its climb, before turning around and returning to Shanghai Airport, and returning about 20 minutes after departure.
While the aircraft involved in this incident had to be grounded for inspection, maintenance, and fitting a new radome, the passengers onboard were moved to a replacement aircraft and were flown to their destination, Shenzhen. The aircraft still remains grounded at the time of writing.
Midflight Radome Detachment!
On Saturday, March 21st, a China Southern Airlines aircraft reportedly suffered a bird strike while departing from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport(SHA). According to The Aviation Herald, the aircraft involved was an Airbus A330-300, and due to the impact of the bird strike, the aircraft’s radome detached mid-flight and separated from the aircraft’s fuselage nose.
This occurred during the aircraft’s initial climb out of SHA, from runway 18R, which resulted in the flight crew ceasing further climbing and maintaining an altitude of about 4,600 feet. After that, the aircraft circled back and landed on runway 18L, 20 minutes after the original departure. The aircraft operated safely, and no passenger or crew injuries were reported.
The passengers were moved to a replacement aircraft, this time a larger Boeing 777-300, and flown to their original destination of Shenzhen, while the A330 involved was grounded. Over 24 hours after the incident, data from FlightRadar24 indicates that the aircraft is still grounded in Shanghai. This comes as no surprise, because the aircraft will now have to be inspected for any damage to the exterior, along with the aircraft’s navigation and radar systems. Furthermore, a brand new radome is required to be installed.
What Is A Radome And Its Function?
The radome is essentially the structure at the nose of the aircraft, which acts as a secure and protective housing for the aircraft’s radar systems and antennas, which enable flight crew to view weather ahead and other traffic in flight. But because of its location, the radome is also most exposed to rain, hail, (and yes) birds, and other external elements.
According to everythingRF, the radome essentially protects the sensitive systems within and is usually made of materials such as fiberglass, composite materials, or special plastics, in order to remain transparent to the radio waves passing through. Because of its functions and the materials used, the radome can also be quite expensive, while the radar systems inside can be more expensive.
Furthermore, the criticality of a radome structure is so important that even the slightest deviation, caused by a little flex on the surface or irregular paint on the radome, can adversely affect the ability of radio waves to pass through, which subsequently impacts the data (such as weather and traffic) visible to the flight crew on their displays. This further indicates the need for specialized materials because the radome must be able to protect and house the internal systems from external elements, but also provide the aerodynamic qualities to ensure safe and efficient flight at high cruising speeds.
Things You Might Not Know About Aircraft Noses & Their Various Roles
There is more than meets they eye regarding aircraft noses!
Bird Strikes Can Cause Significant Damages
Rather interestingly, bird strikes are more common than most people think. Despite the frequent occurrences, bird strikes still remain a major threat to flight safety and operations. Furthermore, quite often, damage from a bird strike can be quite expensive to replace and fix. Apart from the aforementioned radome, there are a number of areas on an aircraft that are prone to bird strikes.
These include areas such as the flight deck windshield (located right above the radome). Upon impact at high speeds, it can get cracked, and in some cases, it could shatter the outer layers of the windshield. Another area prone to bird strikes can be the aircraft wings. The wings are critical because they generate lift, while also housing several important components such as slats and flaps, air brakes, and ailerons, which are control surfaces.
Furthermore, with most commercial jets, the wings also hold the aircraft engines, which produce power. Bird ingestion by the engine can also be critical and damaging, especially during important phases such as taking off or landing, where sustained and reliable thrust is required for a safe landing. However, it is worth keeping in mind that aircraft are certified to be operated safely, even with an engine failure during these phases of flight.
