A Delta Airlines plane getting ready to take off from JFK Wednesday evening struck several birds, forcing the pilot to hit the brakes, flattening two tires in the process.
The Boeing 767 did not suffer any other damage and nobody was hurt, aviation officials said.
There were 202 passengers and 11 crew members on-board Delta flight 72, which was en route to Istanbul, company officials said.
Authorities aren’t sure where the birds struck the plane, but the impact caused the pilot to abort his 5:45 p.m. takeoff and hit the brakes. The heat and force of the immediate stop made so-called blow-out plugs in the plane’s tires to activate, causing the wheels to decompress in order to avoid a blowout, officials explained.
“The captain aborted the takeoff as a precautionary measure,” Delta Airlines spokeswoman Susan Elliott said. “It was a bird strike.”
The plane was able to taxi back to the gate under its own power. Passengers were off-loaded and are trying to get on new flights to Europe, Delta officials said.
(Source: NBC New York)
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3 Responses
How many crashes will there have to be, and how many PEOPLE will have to die, until it is finally decided that HUMAN lives are more precious than bird’s lives, and those birds that breed near the airport MUST be gotten rid of (by ANY and ALL means), once and for all?!?!
Hey AinOhdMilvado, just take the birds off of the federal list of protected wildlife. It is so simple!
To #3-menachem — You don’t need “guys with shotguns”. 1)There is a protected bird sanctuary adjacent to JFK! What could be a worse place for a bird sanctuary! 2) I don’t need to check statistics. If YOU or YOUR loved ones are on the one plane in a million that crashes due to a bird strike, statistics will be of little comfort! 3)There are chemicals that could be sprayed in this area that repels birds (and are not toxic), AND there are also electronic types of repellers. – Yes, B”H no one was hurt or died THIS time, but we can’t count on nissim every day!