A US Airways flight leaving LaGuardia Airport Friday evening experienced a bird strike shortly after takeoff, forcing the plane to return to the airport with a crippled engine, officials say.
US Airways Flight 2191, bound for Washington, D.C., hit several birds after departing the airport, according to an airline spokeswoman. The plane lost one of its engines and turned around to touch down back at LaGuardia.
The plane landed safely, and none of its 96 passengers or five crew members was hurt, the spokeswoman said.
The passengers boarded another plane and landed in D.C. about an hour later than scheduled, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
This was the second bird strike at or near LaGuardia Airport in two days; on Wednesday, a United flight arriving from Chicago hit birds when it was about four miles away from the airport. The plane landed safely, and no one was hurt.
There have been 1,768 bird strikes at LaGuardia since 1990, according to the FAA, and 154 in 2013 alone.
