A TUI Boeing 737 bound for Paphos, Cyprus, returned to Cardiff Airport on Sept. 9, 2026, after a bird strike on departure sent flames from one of its engines. Cardiff Airport and multiple UK news outlets confirmed the account. All passengers and crew were reported safe.
Flock of Birds Struck Moments After Takeoff
TUI flight TOM5TN departed Cardiff Airport (CWL) in the early afternoon of Sept. 9 for what was scheduled to be a roughly four-hour flight to Paphos International Airport (PFO). Passenger video reviewed by the South Wales Argus showed a flock of birds flying alongside the aircraft, to the right of the fuselage, just after rotation. A visible flame then appeared near one of the engines beneath the right wing.
A passenger onboard told regional media the flight had already been delayed about 20 minutes before departure. The aircraft landed back at Cardiff not long after takeoff. “We could smell the burning in the cabin — it was horrendous,” she said. Two fire engines and airport personnel met the aircraft after it landed.
Cardiff Airport Confirms Safe Landing
A Cardiff Airport spokesperson confirmed the sequence of events in a statement: “We responded to an incident involving TUI flight TOM5TN from Cardiff (CWL) to Paphos (PFO) on Wednesday 9th September. The aircraft experienced a bird strike on departure and landed safely at approximately 14.52. All passengers and crew are safe. Cardiff Airport Fire and Rescue Service attended. The runway opened at 15.22 and operations resumed.”
The airport’s timeline shows the aircraft was back on the ground within roughly half an hour of the initial bird strike. That sequence is consistent with a short, low-altitude circuit rather than an extended holding pattern to burn fuel. Crews closed the runway for less than 30 minutes before normal operations resumed.
Flight Rescheduled, Passengers Rebooked
TUI rescheduled the Paphos service, which departed Cardiff at approximately 12:25 p.m. on Sept. 10, the airport confirmed. Airlines commonly hold an aircraft involved in a bird strike for an engine inspection before returning it to service. TUI has not detailed the specific findings from its post-incident check.
Bird strikes that produce flame or smoke from a jet engine typically involve debris — commonly bird remains — passing through the fan and combustion path. That debris can create a visible flash or brief flame at the tailpipe, sometimes accompanied by a compressor surge. Such events startle passengers but are generally survivable. They rank among the failure modes commercial engines must withstand without loss of aircraft control under certification standards.
Part of a Wider Pattern of UK Bird Strikes
The Cardiff incident adds to a run of bird strike events involving UK-departing narrowbody jets in recent months. Just weeks earlier, a Ryanair 737 MAX suffered a bird strike on departure from Norwich and diverted to East Midlands Airport — another reminder that the risk concentrates in the seconds after rotation, when jets are low, slow and climbing through the altitudes where flocks gather.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority logged more than 1,700 bird strikes across the country last year. Still, incidents causing serious aircraft damage remain rare. Airports including Cardiff run wildlife management programs covering habitat control, patrols and deterrents to keep birds away from runways and departure paths, particularly during migration seasons when strike risk tends to rise.
Neither TUI nor UK aviation safety investigators have released a formal technical report on the Cardiff engine event. FODNews will update this report if additional findings are published.
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