Bird strike forces plane from LaGuardia Airport to make emergency landing at JFK
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NEW YORK (WABC) — There were terrifying moments for passengers on board a flight out of LaGuardia Airport after a bird strike forced the pilot to redirect and land at JFK Airport.
Crystal Groves Thomas, a passenger on the flight, captured video of the bird seemingly hitting the engine.
Officials say the American Airlines flight took off from LaGuardia just after 7 p.m. Thursday heading to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Just a few minutes into the flight, a bird struck one of the engines and damaged it.
The pilot reported to ATC: “It appears we have an engine failure, but we’re still kind of working through to figure out what’s going on. We hit birds on we hit birds on the on the way out.”
The flight was forced to redirect to JFK Airport using just one engine and the Airbus A321 was able to land safely at the airport
There were 190 customers and six crew members on board. No one was injured.
American Airlines said a maintenance team will inspect the plane.
“We are grateful to our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this may have caused,” a statement from the airline read.
The flight was set to re-depart on Friday morning. Customers were put up in a local hotel.
The emergency landing was a bit reminiscent of the Miracle on the Hudson back in 2009.
That flight also took off from LaGuardia Airport and was headed to Seattle with a scheduled stop in Charlotte, when a bird strike knocked out power to both of its engines.
Passengers on that flight were saved when pilot Captain Chesley Sullenberger was able to glide and safely land the plane in the Hudson River.
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