[ALPAPilot]

That is very strange - having a slat malfunction at altitude ??. The slats are retracted no later that 3000 feet. Once retracted, there isn’t much at altitude to mess with them - wierd.

[libh8er]

“ The slats are retracted no later that 3000 feet.”

That’s a good point. Are slats serviceable parts .. as in do they have to be replaced after a certain number of miles… especially if they were subject to bird strikes in the past ?

[verum ago]

That is very strange - having a slat malfunction at altitude ??. The slats are retracted no later that 3000 feet. Once retracted, there isn’t much at altitude to mess with them - wierd.

Other outlets are reporting it as a birdstrike. Probably suffered damage at lower altitude, then the thing started flaking apart once at full cruise speed...