Plane in New Orleans, Louisiana Strikes Bird Upon Take-Off

There was a scary scene over New Orleans on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, after a plane leaving the airport struck a bird.

WVUE reports that a Southwest Airlines plane struck a bird while departing for Tampa, Florida. The pilot of the plane was forced to turn the plane around and land back at the New Orleans airport.

A photo of smoke coming from one of the plane's engines was sent to FOX 8 and you can see in the photo here that there was an apparent issue with the plane while over the city of New Orleans.

According to the New Orleans television station, the plane landed safely and there were no injuries reported in this incident.

As for the passengers, a spokesperson for Southwest told WVUE that accommodations were made for those aboard the plane that had to return and that they all did reach their destination.

While this may sound to be a very isolated incident, and it is, it is not uncommon for birds to impact flights.

If you recall it was a flock of birds that hit a plane years ago in New York that resulted in the pilot landing the aircraft in the Hudson River.

So, the next time you're flying keep an eye out for birds that may get too close to the plane you're on. Apparently, they don't mind getting too close to the massive planes.

To read more on this incident in New Orleans, visit FOX 8.