American Airlines flight makes emergency landing after bird sucked into engine

An American Airlines flight made an emergency landing at O'Hare International Airport today after a bird was sucked into its engine just minutes after takeoff, officials said.

Flight 1353 bound for New Orleans left O'Hare at 3:19 p.m., and when the plane was about 200 feet in the air, at least one bird was sucked into its right engine, said American Airlines spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan.

The MD-Super 80 turned around and landed safely at O'Hare 13 minutes later, and none of the plane's 72 passengers and five crew members were injured, Fagan said.

The incident marks the third time since September that an airplane has been forced to make an emergency landing at O'Hare after a bird was sucked into the engine.

On Sept. 16, an American Airlines plane at O'Hare made an emergency landing after the pilots were unable to avoid a flock of birds, six of which were sucked into the fan blades, causing an engine to catch fire.

An United Airlines flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil made an emergency landing on Oct. 24 at O'Hare after at least one bird was sucked into its engine. The pilot shut down the engine and flew the Boeing 767 over nearby Lake Michigan and dumped fuel before returning to O'Hare.

Both planes landed safely and no one was injured.

Fonte: Associated Press - 02/10/2004