Another bird strike in less than a week ended safely for everyone aboard a JetBlue flight departing from Westchester County Airport in New York last night. Two geese had the unfortunate luck to fly directly into the plane’s windshield after takeoff — they didn’t fare so well. And don’t worry, the news coverage shows all the bloody bits of bird body aftermath.
NBC New York says the flight, which was heading to West Palm Beach, Fla., made an emergency landing right after the birds smacked into the aircraft.
“The birds were flying across the runway at the time,” said Jeremy Nielson, operations supervisor at the airport. “I think the pilot said at about 300 feet, they struck the birds.”
Just to be on the safe side, the captain opted to declare an emergency situation and return to the gate, said a JetBlue spokesman. All 54 passengers and crew members were uninjured.
Although it looked like a pretty gory scene for the geese, the birds didn’t do much damage to the plane, on first inspection. Passengers were moved to another plane and continued on their way about an hour and a half later.
Just last week, a Delta flight bound for Los Angeles had to make an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport after encountering a bird strike.
Flight Returns to Westchester After Bird Strike [NBC New York]
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He would have had a book deal if he had only landed in a river. Hitting a bunch of geese only to end up landing on a runway is so unexciting.
A Central American aircrew (can’t remember the airline unfortunately) landed a 737 safely on a short levy in Louisiana next to the water after both of their engines flamed out in a thunderstorm. They were originally going to ditch in the water, but decided on the levy at the last moment and threaded the proverbial needle to land the aircraft. Nobody lost their lives, and the aircraft was repaired and flown FROM THE LEVY to the airport. Oh, and the captain only had one good eye. You didn’t hear much about those guys, though, even though they outdid Captain Sully…
That was TACA Flight 110 in 1988. The 737 landed on a levee, yes. But you’re underestimating the size of said levee which, while admittedly very narrow (about half the width of a standard runway), had plenty of length for the aircraft to land on and then take off from once the engines were repaired.
I’d say Sully had a tougher time in his water landing. Had Sully’s plane deviated from level by even a few degrees, a wing would have clipped the water and sent the plane tumbling.
Ah, good point about wings level. I think the thing that Sully did that was so brilliant was to fire up the APU, that way the computer was able to keep the aircraft from stalling just before the landing, making the splashdown better controlled.
If it bleeds,it leads!
The geese did not hit the plane, The 400mph plane hit the geese.
Not at 400mph.
170-200 KTS, max.
30MPH vs. 300MPH
Who ‘hit’ who.
They didn’t land on Plymouth Rock…
Glad no one was hurt. I bet the pilots had to change their pants after that, though. “We are clearing runway, approximately 300 feet–” *BAM!* “HOLY SHIT!”
I THOUGHT WE HAD A DEAL!!!
/george costanza
Why didn’t they honk?
They should have taken a gander at their surroundings, no?
Let’s be more sensitive, the others are feeling very down.
This whole thing has put me in a fowl mood.
Bravo! A thousand internets to you sir.
Because they were on strike.
At the end of the video “..other planes had to circle so long they ran out of fuel”. Sounds more fatal than the bird strike.
Actually, the plane flew into the geese. Remember, geese were around long before planes.
Since the plane is flying way faster than the geese, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that the plane flew into the geese?
/y’know, basketball rules…
Jetblue institutes new $10 “Birdwatching fee”, lends you binoculars on the plane for $6.
A memorial fund has been set up in honor of the dearly, departed geese. All donations can be made to the National Audubon Society.
Safety officers continue their attempt to educate the birds to only cross at designated cross-fly/waddle zones and not to dash in front of planes. Sadly, these two did not follow safety precautions and have tragically lost their lives. Both were young birds, whose loss if felt not only by their families, but by the whole avian community.
Too many of those geese anyhow. We need more planes to knock off a bunch of these Canadian refugees. At least they don’t get penalized for cruelty to animals because if I wanted to kill off a bunch of them I surely would.
Duck duck duuuccckkk goose
Time to retrain the TSA to focus on goose catching.
Bird Strikes are common but rarely damage the aircraft to where it crashes.
Source: Me who works in military aviation