Ethiopian B737 at Dire Dawa on Jan 9th 2020, swarm of grasshoppers
Last Update: January 15, 2020 / 19:45:30 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Jan 9, 2020
Classification
Incident
Airline
Ethiopian Airlines
Flight number
ET-363
Departure
Djibouti, Djibouti
Destination
Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
Aircraft Registration
ET-ALN
Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-700
ICAO Type Designator
B737
The aircraft remained on the ground for about 11.5 hours for cleaning and a thorough inspection, which found no damage.
The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported on Jan 6th 2020: "The Desert Locust situation remains extremely serious in the Horn of Africa where it threatens pastures and crops in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Numerous swarms have formed in eastern Ethiopia and adjacent areas of northern Somalia. A number of large immature swarms moved south in the Ogaden of eastern Ethiopia and adjacent areas of central Somalia and reached southern Somalia, southeast Ethiopia and, on 28 December, northeast Kenya." The FAO warns a dangerous situation arises at the Horn of Africa and on both sides of the Red Sea.
On Jan 15th 2020 The Aviation Herald received information based on a screenshot reportedly showing the report of the captain of the flight, that the aircraft was on approach to Dire Dawa's runway 15 when the aircraft entered a swarm of locust, it was like rain. The windscreen wipers were not able to clear the windshield anymore. The crew went around, climbed to 8500 feet, depressurized the aircraft, opened the cockpit side window and cleaned the windscreen by hand. The same happened on second approach to Dire Dawa. The crew again climbed to 8500 feet, cleaned the windscreen by hand again and diverted to Addis Ababa.
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Jan 9, 2020
Classification
Incident
Airline
Ethiopian Airlines
Flight number
ET-363
Departure
Djibouti, Djibouti
Destination
Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
Aircraft Registration
ET-ALN
Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-700
ICAO Type Designator
B737
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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