Coyote strike on the runway forces United Airlines flight back to Chicago’s O’Hare

A United Airlines passenger plane struck a coyote on the runway during takeoff from Chicago, forcing the flight to return to O’Hare International Airport to have the landing gear examined.

None of the 167 passengers or six crew members aboard the Boeing 737 MAX 9 were injured in Sunday’s incident, forcing the Phoenix-bound United Flight 1727 to quickly return, the airline said in an email Thursday.

“We have arranged another aircraft later that afternoon to take our customers to their destination,” the airline said.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating and said Thursday that the crew initially reported the plane had struck a bird.

According to the FAA, collisions between aircraft and wildlife are a growing problem for aviation safety.

That’s what the FAA said that between 1988 and 2023, wildlife attacks involving civilian and military aircraft killed more than 491 people worldwide and destroyed more than 350 aircraft. In the United States, between 1988 and 2023, attacks on wildlife by civilian and military aircraft killed 76 people and destroyed 126 aircraft.

Most collisions involve birds, but between 1990 and 2023, there were 882 civilian aircraft attacks involving coyotes and 1,301 involving white-tailed deer in the US, according to the FAA.

Coyotes find a home in many urban and suburban communities across the US. On Monday, a coyote was found in a Chicago supermarket before being captured and removed by authorities.

In 2020, two people – including a 6-year-old boy – were reportedly attacked by a coyote or coyotes in the city center. A coyote sighting also led to the closure of two schools in the city’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Coyotes are particularly active from January through March, the animals’ mating season, officials say.