Terrifying moment bird slams into plane engine mid-air as fireball spews from packed aircraft and big bang heard
The startling moment a bird collided with a plane engine, igniting a massive flame in midair, is captured in spine-tingling video.
Only a few minutes after takeoff, the American Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing.
After the harrowing mic-air incident, officials said the plane from New York’s LaGuardia Airport was rerouted to neighboring JFK.
Crystal Groves Thomas, a passenger on the jet headed to North Carolina, recorded the moment the bird struck the aircraft.
On Thursday, December 12, shortly after 7 p.m., the Airbus A321 was ascending when a bird hit one of the engines, causing an explosion.
In a heart-stopping video that was uploaded on X, the unlucky bird looks to catch fire and burst into flames as the engine sucks it up.
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Fearful passengers watch as the jet tilts to the side.
“I thought I was gonna die,” Amy Stamper explained to the New York Post.
“There were a couple of small explosions, and then there was a fire,” she continued.
After claiming to have seen “two flames in the sky,” another nameless traveler started to pray.
The pilot informed ABC13 Eyewitness News of the incident to air traffic control.
“It appears we have an engine failure, but we’re still kind of working through to figure out what’s going on,” they stated.
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“We hit birds on the way out.”
There were six crew members and 190 passengers on the flight bound for Charlotte.
The incident did not result in any injuries.
The passengers were housed in a nearby hotel until Friday, December 13, when their trip was rescheduled.
Requests for comment from The U.S. Sun were not immediately answered by the Federal Aviation Administration.
AMERICAN AIRLINES STATEMENT
American Airlines released the following statement after a scary event in which a bird struck a plane engine, forcing an emergency landing:
Due to a reported bird strike, American Airlines flight 1722, which was scheduled to depart from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York to Charlotte (CLT), was rerouted to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York.
“The plane successfully touched down at JFK, where our maintenance staff will examine it.
“We are grateful to our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this may have caused.”
The startling event evoked parallels to the 2009 Miracle on the Hudson.
On its way to Seattle, that flight also departed from LaGuardia with a stopover planned in Charlotte.
However, a bird attack cut out power to both of its engines just minutes after launch.
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Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s incredible quick thinking allowed the jet to glide and land safely on the Hudson River without any injuries.
Bird strikes are on the rise, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which reports that 19,400 strikes occurred at 713 airports in the US last year alone.
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