Not Long After The Landas, This Airline Was Forced To Return To Airport Due To The Bird 'attack'

Illustration of the United Airlines airline fleet. (Wikimedia Commons/InSapphoWeTrust)

JAKARTA - A bird attack shortly after taking off forced the United Airlines fleet of aircraft back to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

The Boeing 737-900 aircraft with flight number 1930 was originally scheduled to serve the route from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Miami International Airport, United States.

"The plane landed safely and passengers were dropped off at the gate," United Airlines said in a statement. The airline did not provide details of the potential for damage to the aircraft.

The flight itself took place on Friday, October 14. Kimberly Fiock, who flew with her husband when the incident occurred, shared his experience.

"I knew something was wrong because there was a fire under the wings that kept sticking out, and it felt like the plane was shaking," Fiock told CNN.

"We can hear the engine explosion and see the fire on our side, because we are right near the wing. The light also keeps shining, when it is about to burst. I just hope we can land safely!" he continued.

Fiock said he was unaware the bird's 'attack' had caused problems, until after the plane landed.

"Pilot did a good job of bringing us back safely, and I am very grateful to them and the crew," he said.

FlightAware flight tracking sites showed the 1930 Flight took off at 10:47 p.m. local time and returned to O'Hare 42 minutes later.

A new plane was assigned to the flight, the airline said, and departed on Friday afternoon.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said there were more than 17,000 wildlife attacks at 753 US airports in 2019.

The engine is the most damaged civilian aircraft component in the US, according to the FAA, accounting for about a quarter of all the damaged aircraft components.

The FAA has a Wildlife Attack Database that tracks such incidents. The number of wildlife attacks with aircraft is on the rise, the FAA said.

"Attacks" continued to increase from around 1,800 in 1990 to 16,000 in 2018, the FAA website said.

One of the famous bird's 'attacks' events was when Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III successfully landed US Airways' 1549 flight into the Hudson New York River in 2009, after a bird's 'attack' destroyed the aircraft engine.