Mid-Air Bird Hit Forces United Airlines Plane to Return at O'Hare International Airport

A United Airlines passenger plane struck a bird mid-air shortly after taking off from the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois.

The pilot decided to return to the Chicago airport on Friday, October 14, immediately after the bird hit the aircraft, which resulted in a loud bang that alarmed not only the flight crew but also passengers.

There were no reported casualties from last week's incident.

Since the dawn of aviation, bird strikes have been a common occurrence and posed a significant threat to both civil and military aircraft safety.

The greatest risk comes from the fact that the animals can hit and damage a plane's engine, especially during mid-air travel.

Bird collisions can also affect the windscreen of an aircraft, in addition to the animals being sucked into the engine and can result in a fire or plane crash.

United Flight Bird Strike

(Photo : LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images)

The Chicago Department of Aviation reportedly stated it received a call for "standby alert" at 11:14 a.m. local time on Friday.

Multiple reports indicated that the incident only involved a single bird and not a flock of bird, which had already occurred in previous cases.

The United Airlines during a statement said that Flight 1930 was able to land safely to Chicago O'Hare International Airport in the aftermath of the bird strike, as cited by NBC News.

The airlines added that the passengers deplaned at the gate and were transferred to a different plane.

The United Airlines jet was a Boeing 737-900, a large plane model with no reported pre-flight malfunction or system error.

Also Read: Bird Strikes are an Unreported Threat to US Military Aircraft

State of Panic

Passengers were reportedly terrified when the Miami-bound United Airlines passenger jet caught fire after the bird collision.

Local 10 reporter Joseph Ojo spoke with the Flight 1930 United plane passengers, where some indicated that there was a large banging noise after the bird strike.

The passengers also recalled the plane was flying for 15 minutes before it was able to reach the ground again.

Some residents in the area also captured a moment of the incident by taking a video of a sparking engine and noises from the United jet.

The Miracle of the Hudson

Multiple media sources indicate that the most famous bird strike incident is the so-called "Miracle of the Hudson," a phrase depicting the remarkable landing of US Airways Flight 1549 back in January 2009, when a total of 100 people were injured but with no fatalities.

The Airbus A320 plane that year made an emergency landing on the Hudson River on January 15 after experiencing a double bird strike shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

The US Airways Flight 1549 bird strikes was also made into a Hollywood movie entitled "Sully" (2016) starred by actor Tom Hanks who played as Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the pilot of the US Airways passenger plane.

Bird strikes are considered to be a major problem in the commercial aviation industry.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), there were 14,564 recorded bird strikes, wherein some also encountered bats, terrestrial mammals, and reptiles.