Aberdeen trip delayed after seagull hits plane engine

Aberdeen's trip to face Ventspils in the second leg of their Europa League tie has been delayed after the plane taking them to Latvia was damaged by a seagull flying into the engine.

The squad, including right back Shay Logan, have been delayed at Aberdeen airport. Picture: SNS

Aberdeen are 3-0 up from the first leg encounter and were due to begin their journey for Thursday’s return leg.

The plane that was due to take them collided with a seagull as it landed at Aberdeen airport. The first-team squad were waiting in the terminal at the time.

Derek McInnes has been forced into changing his pre-match plans because of the incident. Aberdeen were due to train on Ventspils pitch this evening but they won’t be leaving Scotland until around that time.

Flying birds are hazardous to aircraft as they can damage the engine if they collide with enough force. The most famous example came in New York in 2009 when an Airbus A320-200 hit a flock of geese during its departure climb from LaGuardia. The plane lost power in both engines and had to ditch in the Hudson River. Miraculously, everyone on board survived.

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