ANSWER · UK 261 AND EC 261

Bird strike or runway debris: is compensation still possible?

Both count as extraordinary circumstances, so usually no compensation, but neither ends the analysis. The Court held bird strikes outside the carrier's control in Pešková on 4 May 2017 and extended that on 4 April 2019 in Germanwings to a tyre cut by a screw lying on the runway. In each case the airline still has to prove what it did to keep the disruption short.

REVIEWED AGAINST RULE SET V6 AND THE CITED PRIMARY SOURCES · UPDATED 7 AUGUST 2026

What the two judgments decided

A collision with a bird, and damage caused solely by loose debris on the runway, are not by nature or origin inherent in running an airline: birds and other people's litter come from outside, and clearing runways is the airport's job.

Where airlines still lose these cases

Pešková: a second inspection the carrier chose to run, after an authorised expert had already cleared the aircraft, did not extend the excuse for the delay it caused.
Germanwings: tyres are changed under standard procedures, and carriers can hold priority contracts with maintenance firms, so the carrier must show it deployed all its staff, equipment and financial resources to avoid the delay.
The carrier also bears the burden of proving the damage really was the sole result of the strike or the object.

What the airline must provide while the aircraft is checked

Care under Art. 9, on the ordinary Art. 6 departure clocks. An excused compensation claim leaves the meals, communications and any necessary hotel untouched.

THE JUDGMENTS BEHIND THIS ANSWER

Pešková, C-315/152017 Germanwings, C-501/172019

SOURCES

Case C-315/15 Pešková and Peška v Travel Service, judgment of 4 May 2017 (ECLI:EU:C:2017:342) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
Case C-501/17 Germanwings v Pauels, judgment of 4 April 2019 · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 5(3) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026