Bird Strike Leaves Massive Dent On Nose Of Texas-Bound Airplane

Battered by a bird strike, an American Airlines flight was forced to turn back from its trip to Texas yesterday and land back at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, stated airport officials.

The incident left a 2-foot wide dent in the nose of the Airbus 321.

None of the 150 passengers and six crew members aboard Flight 2310 were reported injured as a result of the encounter, which occurred just after 3:30 p.m PT on Wednesday. Sea-Tac offered the following statement:

"American Airlines 2310, from Seattle-Tacoma (SeaTac) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), returned to SeaTac due to a bird strike, which struck the nose of the aircraft. The Airbus A321, with 150 passengers and six crew, landed safely and taxied to the gate. Our maintenance team is currently evaluating the aircraft. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience, and are working to get them to Texas as soon as possible."

It wasn't made clear if the crater on the front of the plane's cranium was damage suffered from a collision with one bird or several of them. The pilot suggested that the plane collided with more than one bird, according to LiveATC.net.

"[It] looks like we hit some birds after takeoff, we're gonna need to go back and have the airplane looked at," the pilot said to air traffic controllers.

So about half an hour after taking off, the flight was back at the Sea-Tac airport where it had taken off about 15 minutes behind schedule. The passengers were put on an alternative flight to Texas.

A week ago, another American Airlines flight was knocked off course as a result of a bird strike. The Charlotte-bound flight was leaving Las Vegas when a bird collided with the plane.

The pilot landed the plane and its 176 passengers in Phoenix, a hub for American Airlines. The plane suffered a cracked windshield, but there were no injuries reported as a result of the incident and passengers were put on another flight shortly after landing in Phoenix.