NEW YORK — A bird strike involving an American Airlines jet bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, disabled one of the plane’s two engines shortly after takeoff from New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Thursday, forcing the flight to divert to nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport, authorities said Friday.
American Airlines Flight 1722 took off around 7:43 p.m. ET and landed around 8 p.m. at JFK, WABC reported, citing FlightAware. The Associated Press reported that the pilot of the Airbus A321 declared an emergency at 7:52 p.m. and diverted to JFK, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said in a statement.
Airline officials said there were 190 passengers and six crew members on the aircraft at the time, according to WPIX.
There were no injuries reported, officials said. The plane is being inspected by American Airlines’ maintenance team, the television station reported.
The flight was rescheduled for Friday.
A bird strike led a flight to North Carolina to divert to John F. Kennedy International Airport, American Airlines says.https://t.co/BGBpSHZXEm
— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) December 13, 2024
“We are grateful to our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this may have caused,” American Airlines said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating the case.
Thursday’s bird strike was similar to the one that caused a US Airways jet that hit a flock of birds on Jan. 15, 2009, to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River, the AP reported.
The “Miracle on the Hudson” also involved an aircraft headed from LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte. The jet lost power in both engines shortly after takeoff.
Pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was touted as a hero after he landed the plane in the river and all 155 people on board were rescued.
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