A JetBlue Airlines flight from West Palm Beach to New York City was forced to turn around and land Sunday morning after the plane struck a bird.
Flight 62 from Palm Beach International Airport to LaGuardia Airport turned around just minutes after takeoff following the strike, NBC affiliate WPTV-TV reported.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
WATCH HERENo injures were reported on the plane, and the flight took off once again seven and a half hours after the first attempt.
"It was like a split second of panic...that resulted in this audible reaction on the plane,” said passenger Brian Healy. "I felt then adrenaline and there was total quiet on the plane, and then there was relief when the plane came to a stop."
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP
An email from JetBlue read, "Our team is working to accommodate customers on later flights."
In the last 20 years, there have been over 200,000 reported bird impacts, according to Tomas Bueno, the CEO of Sky Blue Aviation.
An aircraft is designed to withstand those impacts, but they still need to be inspected.
Local
"Normally in the best interest of safety, (they) will return to base and inspect the aircraft," Bueno said. "Normally, that will trigger some sort of major inspection to the turbine to make sure it’s still airworthy and in good condition."
Coincidentally, this bird strike at Palm Beach International Airport happened exactly 14 years after the Miracle on the Hudson, when a US Airways flight had to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River after Canadian geese were caught in the airplane's engine. The pilot landed the plane safely in the river, leading to a water rescue, where all 155 passengers survived.
