Air France Airbus A350 Suffers Nose Cone Damage

An Air France Airbus A350 declared an emergency and returned to landing suffering from nose damage.

Air France flight AF291 was a scheduled flight from Osaka-Kansai (KIX),  Japan, to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) operated on the Airbus A350-900. After departure, the crew requested to return for landing due to a technical malfunction affecting the aircraft’s weather radar and speedometer. At the time the aircraft already reached the cruise altitude of 35,000ft.

Pictures taken after the  A350’s landing shows the aircraft nose cone visibly damaged very likely due to a bird strike.

Depending on the size and speed of the bird and the location of impact on the aircraft it can cause significant damage to the aircraft's engines, wings, or other critical systems, which may require extensive repairs or even grounding of the aircraft.

After a bird strike, the airline will conduct a thorough inspection of the aircraft to assess any damage and determine what repairs are necessary before it can return to service.