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Kelowna  

WestJet flight leaving Kelowna forced to land after striking goose Sunday night

Goose strike grounds plane

A WestJet flight from Kelowna to Edmonton on Sunday night was forced to turn around after striking a bird shortly after take-off.

Kelowna International Airport manager of operations Phillip Elchitz says the aircraft landed safely back at YLW after the bird strike. Passengers were given new flights by WestJet.

"The aircraft is still here, and the WestJet team is working through... with their maintenance department on getting it back in operation," says Elchitz.

The plane's windshield was struck by a Canada goose.

"It was a single strike, and it struck just the top portion of the windshield of the aircraft," said Elchitz, who noted that the surrounding mountains and lakes can pose a wildlife threat to aviation.

There are an average of 30 bird strikes a year at the Kelowna International Airport, most of them from smaller birds like starlings

"Geese and herons, those are larger birds, generally, they can cause more damage," Elchitz said.

YLW has its own team to manage wildlife at the airport to deter and monitor wildlife interactions with aircraft.

Elchitz points to the fencing and a lot of vegetation management to make sure that the vegetation doesn't attract wildlife, birds, large mammals, deer and coyotes.

"We're also doing regular patrols and a team of wildlife specialists trained in the management of wildlife, and they learn how to use noise, lights, pyrotechnics to scare away the birds and other animals," Elchitz says.

Elchitz says airport operations do a full wildlife review every year.

"So we spent a lot of time and put a lot of attention into the plan," says Elchitz.



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