A flight was diverted on Thursday due to a bird strike. The JetBlue plane from White Plains, N.Y., to Fort Myers, Fla., had to land in New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport after an incident that occurred shortly after takeoff.
"Out of an abundance of caution, the aircraft diverted to John F. Kennedy airport for inspection and landed safely at 8:25 AM," JetBlue announced in a statement.
Birds hit Flight 1205 at around 8 a.m., shortly after it took off. After the flight landed at JFK, the passengers were transferred to another plane. They're expected to continue their trip and land in Fort Myers by the early afternoon on Thursday. There were 68 passengers on the flight and no one was injured, CBS 2 reports.
Some sources say that the JetBlue plane hit two starling birds.
Birds strikes are a big problem in the airline industry and a growing danger for flight safety. According to the FAA, damages and lost flight time due to bird strikes costs an average of $600 million.
One major bird strike incident occurred during 2009 in what is now known as the "miracle on the Hudson." In January of 2009, US Airways flight 1549 lost power in both engines after a bird strike near the George Washington Bridge from New York City to New Jersey. Luckily, the pilot, Capt. . Chesley B Sullenberger was skilled and was able to land the plane, with all 155 passengers, right in the middle of the Hudson River. No one was killed in the incident and the passengers were taken from the river by rescue boats.
Some authorities took drastic action to try to deal with the birdstrike issue in New
York City following the incident on the Hudson. In 2010, roughly 1,700 Canadian geese were rounded up and killed. Animal right groups protested saying this wasn't the right method to prevent bird strikes.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
