Bird strike forces emergency landing in St. Louis

[July 30, 2009]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- An American Airlines flight made an emergency landing in St. Louis after a bird was pulled into an engine.

No injuries were reported among the 140 passengers and five crew members aboard the MD-80 jetliner bound from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to Los Angeles on Wednesday.

An American spokeswoman says the pilot noticed a bird, believed to be a red-tailed hawk, flying into the right engine as the plane took off. The plane landed a few minutes later. The passengers and crew later flew to Los Angeles on another plane.

Bird-aircraft collisions are not unusual. However, they have received added scrutiny since a US Airways flight ditched into the Hudson River in January after hitting a flock of Canada geese. All aboard survived.

[Associated Press]

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