An eagle collided with an Alaska Airlines aircraft from Anchorage to Fairbanks on Christmas Eve, forcing the jet to turn back.
On Sunday, a massive plane crash at a South Korean airport that killed 179 people and left only two survivors was suspected to be caused by a bird strike, which is a collision between a bird and an aircraft.
Alaska Airlines Flight 2041 took off from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport at 11:40 a.m. on December 24, but turned around and returned about 30 minutes later, according to FlightAware records. That flight normally lasts around one hour.
Passenger Michelle Tatela was visiting from Chicago when the incident occurred.
“We’re in the air, and after a few minutes, we were told we were turning back around out of caution to return to Anchorage,” she told Anchorage’s NBC affiliate, KTUU.
When the plane landed back in Anchorage, she said passengers discovered that a bird strike involving an eagle had caused the unexpected return.
“The eagle survived at that time,” Tatela told the channel. “There were a lot of police cars around the jet. Normally, that would be a more terrifying circumstance, but knowing it was a bird… and then they stated the eagle was going to the eagle hospital because he had a damaged wing.”
However, the eagle’s wing damage was too severe for rehabilitation, and it was terminated upon arrival, Bird Treatment and Learning Center Executive Director Laura Atwood told KTUU.
“Everybody was really excited that they said the eagle had been removed and he was going to the sanctuary,” Tatela told me. “We’re hoping for a happier ending for the eagle, but it is a jet, so there’s that.”
She and other passengers were transferred to another flight to Fairbanks.
An Alaska Airlines spokeswoman told the station that no emergency had been declared and that the captain and first officer were prepared for eventualities such as a bird strike. NBC News has contacted the airline for further clarification.
The representative further stated that the aircraft was taken out of service for inspection and has now been returned to service.
The pilot of Jeju Air Flight 2216 called mayday after giving the bird strike alert, according to Joo Jong-wan, director of the aviation policy division of South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.
While landing at Muan International Airport, roughly 180 miles south of Seoul, the plane veered off the runway and crashed, bursting into flames.
Joo stated that the resulting fire entirely destroyed the jet, and that a thorough investigation, which may take six months to three years, will be conducted.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading an American team, which includes Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration, to assist South Korea in its inquiry.
