A FedEx cargo aircraft was forced to urgently landed on Saturday morning at Newark Liberty International Airport with one of its engines in a fire after hitting a bird leaving the airport, officials said.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages the airport, said no injuries have been reported. There were three people on the plane, the beginning said.
In a statement, Fedex said the plane was flying from Newark to Indianapolis when the bird strike happened. “Our crew declared emergency and returned safely to Newark,” he said, adding that the plane is evaluated. The company did not answer a question about which load, if it were, was on the boat.
The Federal Aviation Service said the bird strike destroyed one of the Boeing 767 engines. The organization said the plane, Fedex Flight 3609, was disabled in a runway. The Port Aircraft Rescue and Fire Unit, Port Authority Police and Port Authority operations responded to emergency landing.
The episode occurred at 8am. And businesses continued at the airport a little later.
A fire can be seen on the underside of the plane in a video shared in the social media. A plane video while being airborne shows a flash from what seems to be fire and then a smoke puff.
The episode follows a series of aviation disasters, including the collision of the military helicopter and a passenger jet in Washington, DC, who killed 67 people.
It is not uncommon for planes to hit wild animals such as birds and most episodes do not result in deaths or serious injuries.
There were 19,603 wildlife strikes reported in the United States in 2023, or on average about 54 strikes each day, according to a Federal Air Force report published in June. Of these strikes, 3.6 % caused damage.
