A Qantas aircraft was grounded after it collided with a flock of birds while being diverted from Dubai to Muscat on Saturday morning. The A380, flight QF9 which was en route from Melbourne to London via Dubai, left for Dubai on Sunday evening after necessary repairs.
Damage forced the aircraft to remain grounded in Muscat till Sunday evening. In a letter to passengers, the airline said repairs were delayed due to a lack of local expertise to repair A380 aircraft and working hour regulations. It wrote: “Today we had to divert your flight QF9 (EK5009) because of severe storms in Dubai. Unfortunately on approach we sustained a bird strike to the aircraft. As there are no A380 certified engineers in Muscat we required engineering support from Dubai which would not arrive before our technical and cabin crew were over their allowable operating hours under the Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations.”
The airline offered passengers a complimentary hotel stay. The plane left for Dubai at 7.15pm on Sunday.