SEATAC, Wash. — A bird hit a Horizon Airlines plane shortly after takeoff from Sea-Tac Airport Friday afternoon.
The pilot was forced to turn the plane around. The Bombardier Q-400 landed safely with 65 passengers on board.
The bird was still stuck in the nose of the plane when it landed. The plane, which had been bound for Bozeman, Montana, was taken out of service.
The Port of Seattle says bird strikes are rare. Bird strikes can bring down an aircraft. Captain “Sully” Sullenberger was forced to land US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009 after birds knocked out both engines.
Due to the danger, the Port of Seattle spends nearly $250,000 on bird strike avoidance each year. The port relies on radar, guns that use noisemakers, and even has a program to relocate birds from property nearby.
KIRO-7 showed the video from the incident, with the bird still stuck in the plane, to passengers at the airport Friday night. “If I were a passenger on that flight it would have totally freaked me out,“ said traveler Kelly Jonakin.
Last year at Sea-Tac there were about 50 bird strikes out of more than 300,000 takeoffs and landings. Airport officials say 95 percent of the time the plane isn’t damaged. The bird strike on Friday forced passengers to board another aircraft to Bozeman.
KIRO
