China Southern Airlines flight from Shanghai to Shenzhen was struck by a bird and returned urgently, the radome was suspected to have fallen off

This afternoon, China Southern Airlines issued a situation statement, which reads as follows: At noon today,Company flight CZ3554 (Shanghai Hongqiao-Shenzhen) encountered a bird strike after takeoff. The crew strictly followed the procedures and the flight returned safely to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.

The company immediately launched a contingency plan to ensure passenger service and quickly dispatched another aircraft to fly the flight.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to our passengers. The company always puts passenger safety as its top priority and thanks passengers for their understanding and support.

Flight data showed that at 12:43 noon, the A330-300 passenger plane numbered B-1062 took off from Houhongqiao Airport. After flying for 23 minutes, it returned to Hongqiao Airport and landed on runway 18L at 13:06. The runway was immediately closed.

Previously, according to media reports, some netizens announced that China Southern Airlines flight CZ3554 from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport to Shenzhen Baoan Airport that afternoon was suspected of encountering a bird collision and returned.

Passengers who took the flight said that after getting off the plane, they saw that the radome on the nose of the plane seemed to have fallen off.

The landing pictures taken by some netizens showed that the entire radome of the flight had detached, and some fragments were still hanging on the nose of the aircraft, being lifted up by the high-speed airflow.

Photos taken by other netizens showed that after the plane landed, the maintenance staff wrapped the exposed radar antenna with plastic sheeting to protect it.

Public information shows that the radome is a protective structural shell wrapped around the outside of the radar antenna. It has the dual functions of physical protection and electromagnetic channel. It can resist environmental erosion such as wind, rain, sand and dust, and ensure efficient transmission of electromagnetic waves.

It is widely used in aircraft, missiles, navigation, meteorological monitoring, air defense early warning and other fields.

The radome structure mainly includes the shell, lightning protection system, anti-static and rain erosion system, etc. Its shell is often made of glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin foam or honeycomb sandwich composite material structure.