Mayor Michael Bloomberg had a terrible fright (not really) over the weekend when a bird crashed into the jet he and a few other notables were flying in from the Hamptons to Boston for Sen. Ted Kennedy's funeral, according to a published report.
Maybe the bird was miffed that Bloomberg's been ordering all its relatives -- declared a nuisance to airplanes -- to the gas chambers. Or maybe it just got in the way, as was the case with the flock of geese that struck a US Airways flight in January, forcing pilot Chesley Sullenberger to land in the Hudson River, which he did -- heroically.
Back then, Bloomberg made his position on the birds clear.
"There is not a lot of cost involved in rounding up a couple thousand geese, and letting them go to sleep with nice dreams," he said.
Fortunately, Bloomberg's pilot didn't have to land the plane in a river -- and all people on board, including Bloomy's longtime squeeze Diana Taylor and Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey, made it back to ground safely.
At one point, however, the situation could've taken an ominous turn. The mayor's pilot was concerned that there had been unseen damage to the Dassault 900EX that could make for a difficult landing, according to the New York Post. So the pilot contacted the control tower at the Boston-area airport where the plane was supposed to land to give them a heads up; ground crews prepped for the worst.
Bloomberg, like the rest of the passengers, didn't know anything had happened, but after the pilot radioed the control tower, someone quietly told him what was going on.
The magnanimous mayor, reluctant to frighten his passengers when there was no need, kept the news to himself. And the plane landed no problem.
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While Bloomberg went to pay his respects to Kennedy, the pilot and other crew checked out the plane for damage and determined it wasn't worth the risk to attempt to fly it back, reports the Post. So Bloomy found another way to get home.
The mayor had no comment on the incident, reports the Post.
No one knows what kind of bird struck the plane, but geese and starlings are often seen in the area.
The motive of the kamikaze bird remains unclear.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters told the Post the alleged strike still had to be verified.
Last year, more than 400 bird strikes were reported at LaGuardia, Newark, Teterboro and Kennedy airports; eight of them caused significant damage to aircraft, according to FAA records cited by the Post.
After Capt. Sully miraculously landed his plane in the Hudson River, New York City sent up to 2000 Canadian geese to their deaths.
