An airplane struck a bird Monday night while in flight, requiring the passenger jet to turn around and head back to the Sacramento International Airport, according to reporting by The Sacramento Bee.
The plane, Aeromexico Flight 789, was heading to Guadalajara, Mexico, the paper reported. But just after takeoff around 6 p.m., the aircraft dealt with a bird strike, which is when a bird comes into contact with a moving vehicle, usually a plane.
The Boeing 737 NextGen 8 then flew around for more than an hour south of the airport to burn off fuel, Scott Johnston, spokesman for the county's airport system, told the paper. After circling those 25 miles, the plane touched back down safely on the tarmac just after 8 p.m.
No one was injured during the incident.
Although the plane can hold up to 160 passengers, it's not clear how many people were on board during the flight.
Bird strikes are a common hazard at airports, according to the Federal Aviation Administration website. While it’s more likely to injure or kill the bird than it is to cause damage or harm the passengers, these incidents can be deadly.
The worst bird strike recorded happened on Oct. 4, 1960, when Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 hit a flock of European starlings while taking off. According to the FAA, all four engines were damaged, causing the plane to crash into the Boston harbor, killing 62 people.
While bird strikes account for 97% of all strikes among cases involving civil aircraft in the country, they aren't the only animals that can get hit. Planes have also hit deer, coyotes, turtles, skunks, bats, alligators and iguanas, according to the FAA.
Wildlife strikes don't happen too often at the Sacramento International Airport, according to reporting by the paper. Over the last five years, there's been a yearly average of 105.6 strikes at or below 1,500 feet.
Related
