Plane Strikes Bird, Turns Around After Takeoff From DIA
DENVER (CBS4) - A passenger plane bound for San Francisco on Monday morning turned around shortly after takeoff from Denver International Airport after it struck a bird.
Passengers a CBS4 crew interviewed Monday afternoon who were on Virgin America Flight 865 said they were told the pilot had to turn around because of the in-air collision.
One couple who was seated in first class said they thought they heard and felt something shortly after the plane took off. They thought it was turbulence, but then the pilot came on the loudspeaker and made an announcement that the plane was turning around due to a bird strike.
"We were very close to just getting up in the air and we heard a loud crunching kind of noise and Gil said, 'What is that?' and I said, 'Oh, he warned us that we would have five minutes of turbulence' so we kind of took that for granted. But then he made a U-turn and I kind of knew that we hadn't gone up," said passenger Meg Brook.
"But she said, 'There wasn't much runway left' so I don't know when we actually hit that bird. It might have been on the uptake but he was running a long time," said Gil Brook.
"We were only up about 10 or 15 minutes and he came right back," said Meg Brook.
The airline was working to get the flyers to their destinations on other flights on Monday afternoon.
Mechanics at DIA checked out the plane for possible damage.
Virgin America released this statement: "Shortly after departure from Denver International Airport, VX Flight 865 en route to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) experienced a bird strike, and pilots returned to the airfield so that the aircraft could be evaluated. As is standard operating procedure in such circumstances and out of an abundance of caution, the captain declared an emergency, but the aircraft continued to operate as normal, and the safety of the passengers and crew was never in question. The flight landed safely at DEN, where maintenance crews are currently inspecting the aircraft. We are working to find alternative travel options for affected guests to get them to their destinations as soon as possible."
