FAA, NTSB look into emergency landing

The Commonwealth Ports Authority is cooperating with federal agencies as they look into the Aug. 31 incident involving a Star Marianas Airlines aircraft that had to make an emergency landing following a bird strike that crippled its landing gear.

CPA said the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified of the incident and that the CPA is cooperating with these agencies that are conducting their own investigations.

According to a CPA statement, a Star Marianas aircraft that departed Rota at 4:45pm to Saipan and operated by the inter-island carrier’s chief pilot, Capt. Jun Shimada, reported landing gear malfunction after experiencing multiple bird strikes.

This led Shimada to conduct an emergency landing on Runway 24 at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport at 6:10pm.

Shimada was able to land the aircraft safely at the Saipan airport with all its passengers and crew unharmed.

CPA said it responded to an emergency call from a Star Marianas Air aircraft on Aug. 31, 2017, at about 5:50pm.

It said the plane reported faulty landing gear with a total of seven passengers, including the pilot. The plane landed safely with no reported injuries.

In an interview last week, CPA executive director Chris Tenorio was relieved that nothing untoward happened with the Star Marianas aircraft’s passenger and crew.

“We are glad that the passengers are safe and sound as that is our main concern,” he said.

Currently, the aircraft, a Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain, has been removed from the runway. “The aircraft has been removed and right now we are focused on documenting everything and compiling pictures that were taken of the aircraft,” Star Marianas president Shaun Christian said.

According to Christian, a detailed investigation will ensue if the emergency landing was due to unknown causes or mechanical failure, which neither case applies to the incident that happened last week.

“There is nothing to investigate at this point because, as Capt. Shimada reported, the cause of the emergency landing was due to the bird strikes and we have seen blood splatters on the aircraft. The aircraft was hit by multiple birds shortly after taking off and the landing gear was affected while in transit,” he added.

Since migratory birds are prevalent at this time of the year, Christian suggested that the CPA might consider looking into Wildlife Hazard Mitigation plans.

Wildlife Hazard Mitigation program helps airports maintain a safe operating environment for aircrafts flying in and out. A Wildlife Hazard Assessment is conducted and helps prepare a Wildlife Hazard Management plan when there is a wildlife strike at an airport and in its air space.