Aer Lingus passenger jet makes emergency landing in Dublin minutes after takeoff to Chicago after a swarm of pigeons was sucked into the plane’s engine
- Aer Lingus flight EI123 was en route to Chicago but had to make an emergency landing
- Passengers reported major vibrations in the aircraft after the bird strike
An Aer Lingus passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Dublin minutes after takeoff after a swarm of pigeons was sucked into the plane’s engine.
Firefighters immediately scrambled onto the runway after the plane landed following this afternoon’s bird strike.
Aer Lingus flight EI123, en route to Chicago, took off from the north runway at Dublin Airport around 11:30pm but had to make a U-turn just 15 minutes later.
Passengers reported experiencing large vibrations in the plane after the flock of birds became trapped in the right engine.
The Airbus A330-300 was inspected by engineers after making an emergency landing on the south runway earlier today, as Aer Lingus works to get passengers to Chicago later.
An Aer Lingus passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Dublin minutes after take-off following a bird strike. (file image)
Footage of passengers on board showed the Aer Lingus plane departing normally for Chicago
Footage posted online showed the plane initially speeding down the runway before takeoff.
However, another video posted by one of the passengers showed flight EI123 back on the ground, with firefighters running towards it.
The camera then panned to two officers on the ground as engineers began to inspect the damage caused.
Along with the video, one of the passengers wrote on Twitter: ‘My #AerLingus flight EI123 from Dublin to Chicago just had a bird strike in the number 2 engine on takeoff.
‘The captain says it was a flock of pigeons.
Major tremors after takeoff led to an emergency landing in Dublin. Happened today April 13 at noon.”
Aer Lingus confirmed that the aircraft landed safely, where passengers and cabin crew disembarked.
An airline spokesman said: ‘Aer Lingus flight EI123, which was operating from Dublin to Chicago this afternoon, had to turn back when the aircraft suffered a bird strike shortly after take-off.
“The aircraft landed safely at Dublin Airport and all passengers and crew disembarked safely.
After the emergency landing, engineers were seen inspecting the aircraft’s damaged engine
Passengers reported experiencing large vibrations in the plane after the flock of birds became trapped in the right engine. In the photo: Officers at the plane
The map above shows the short journey of the Aer Lingus flight, leaving Dublin and immediately returning
“We are working to get affected customers to their destination as quickly as possible.”
A spokesman for the daa added: ‘The Dublin Airport Fire and Rescue Service was on hand to safely escort flight EI123 to a stand on Thursday afternoon when it landed at Dublin Airport after the aircraft encountered a problem shortly after take-off.
‘Disaster relief was subsequently discontinued.’
A similar incident occurred last September when an Aer Lingus flight taking Tánaiste Micheal Martin to the UN General Assembly in New York was forced to turn around after a bird strike.
This time, however, the flight took 90 minutes to get to JFK Airport when it was forced to land back in Dublin.