Bird strike causes engine fire and return to airport for US flight
An American Airlines flight bound for Phoenix on Sunday morning returned to John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio because a bird strike disabled an engine, officials said.
An engine fire following the strike was captured on cell phone video that has been confirmed by NBC News. It shows flames from engine No. 2 licking the airborne plane’s right wing.
Takeoff was scheduled for 7:43 a.m., according to tracker FlightAware, and the bird strike occurred at about 8 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
The plane turned back to the airport shortly after and landed safely, American Airlines said in its own statement.
“The aircraft landed normally and safely taxied to the gate under its own power,”[ads1]; it said. “The aircraft was taken out of service for maintenance and our team is working to get customers back on the road.”
The Boeing 737-800 had 173 passengers and crew and was carrying 30,000 pounds of fuel, according to radio traffic with an air traffic controller.
No injuries have been reported.
The diverted version of the plane was minutes from landing at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Sunday afternoon, according to FlightAware.
Passenger John Fisher told NBC affiliate WCMH in Columbus that passengers were quickly made aware of the bird strike because of the sounds produced by the collision.
“Apparently we hit a flock of geese and the engine started making really loud ‘clunk, clunk, clunk’ noises,” he said. “They finally cut the engine and turned around and headed back to the airport.”
Emergency crews responded after the plane landed, but the schedule of flights and arrivals at John Glenn Columbus International Airport was not affected, the airport so.
The airport initially blamed an engine fire, but it later said “mechanical problems” caused the plane to return.
For domestic air travel, bird strikes are both common and potentially catastrophic, blamed for 350 deaths throughout the history of American passengers, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
The FAA defines large birds, among the most dangerous elements of nature for pilots, as those weighing four pounds or more. “There is no aircraft engine certified to swallow a large bird without shutting down,” the agency says in a resource paper about the phenomenon.
The bird strike heard around the world occurred on January 15, 2009, when an Airbus A320 designated as US Airways flight 1549 from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport struck a flock of geese so large that it took out both engines and overturned the approximately 70-ton fly into a glider.
Retired pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger moved quickly and aimed the plane at the Hudson River, where his emergency landing was a success without a fatality.
Bird strikes may be on the rise in the United States because bird populations have expanded while airplanes have become quieter, according to the FAA.
The number of Canada geese in the country has tripled in a decade, according to the pilots’ association. They weigh an average of 12 pounds, it said, and can individually disable engines.
Its advice to pilots is to avoid wetlands, watch out for bird migration seasons and patterns, and always be prepared for bird strikes, as they seem inevitable.
