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A suspected bird strike caused British Airways flight BA216 headed from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to divert to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) last night. The aircraft safely landed shortly after departure with no injuries reported.
The emergency landing happened around 7:30 PM after it was reported that the aircraft might have hit a bird and that there were fumes in the cabin. The incident occurred shortly after reaching a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. The captain decided to take the Boeing 777-300 to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) rather than attempting the transatlantic flight. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the incident.
Bird strikes occur fairly frequently. According to DC News Now, around 291,600 wildlife strikes with civil aircraft were reported in the United States between 1990 and 2023. Perhaps the most famous bird strike occurred 16 years ago. US Airways flight US1549 from New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) was forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River shortly after takeoff. Amazingly, only a few injuries were suffered and all passengers managed to safely leave the aircraft. There was also a recent rabbit strike (which I had never heard of before) at Denver International Airport (DEN).
British Airways released the following statement:
We are sorry for the delay to our customers’ travel plans, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority.”
Anthony’s Take: Thankfully, the pilots were able to safely land the aircraft. While the safety of the passengers is always first, I can’t help but feel bad for the wildlife that dies during these incidents.
(Featured Image Credit: Greg L and Edmund Seeger via Flickr.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
