A bird strike sparked an engine fire on a plane shortly after it took off Sunday from an Ohio airport, and the airliner returned safely with no injuries reported, authorities said.
American Airlines flight 1958 had departed from John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Columbus around 7:45 a.m. and was headed to Phoenix. The fire was detected a short time later and the Boeing 737 returned to the airport, where firefighters quickly doused the flames.
It wasn't clear how many passengers and crew members were aboard the aircraft. The airline said the plane was taken out of service for maintenance and it was working to get the passengers on other flights.
A passenger told NBC affiliate WCMH of Columbus that the pilot of the flight said a flock of geese flew into the engine, likely causing the engine fire.
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“Apparently we struck a flock of geese and the engine started making real loud ‘clonk, clonk, clonk’ noises,” passenger John Fisher said to WCMH. “They eventually turned the engine off and turned around and went back to the airport.”
Airport officials said the facility remained operating as usual and the fire only caused some minor flight delays.
The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate.
