A flight out of New York City's LaGuardia Airport bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, had to make an abrupt landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport after a bird strike caused an engine fire late Thursday, authorities say.
No injuries were reported when American Airlines flight 1722 landed safely at JFK, where it was set to be inspected by the maintenance team. There were 190 customers and six crew members aboard at the time, the airline said.
Video captured by a passenger and shared with WCNC Charlotte appears to show a bird enter the engine moments after takeoff. A ball of fire erupts.
A mayday call could be heard being made by the pilot, reporting engine failure.
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Travelers were given hotel accommodations and a scheduled re-departure for Friday morning, a spokesperson for American Airlines said.
"We are grateful to our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this may have caused," American Airlines said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said bird strike are increasing, with more than 19,000 strikes at 713 U.S. airports in 2023 alone. Most of those involved birds making contact during the landing.
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Thursday night's incident sparked memories of the "Miracle on the Hudson" in Jan. 2009. That flight had the same path — taking off from LaGuardia heading to Charlotte — when it hit a flock of birds and lost power in both engines, forcing a splash landing on the Hudson River.
The FAA was investigating Thursday's incident.
