Aer Lingus passenger jet makes emergency landing in Dublin minutes after taking-off for Chicago after flock of pigeons was sucked into aircraft’s engine
- Aer Lingus Flight EI123 was on its way to Chicago but had to emergency land
- Passengers reported major vibrations on the aircraft following the bird strike
An Aer Lingus passenger jet was forced to make an emergency landing in Dublin just minutes after take-off after a flock of pigeons was sucked into the aircraft’s engine.
Firefighters immediately scrambled onto the runway once the aircraft had landed following the bird strike this afternoon.
Aer Lingus Flight EI123, which was on its way to Chicago, took off from the North runway at Dublin Airport at around 11.30pm but was forced to U-turn just 15 minutes later.
Passengers reported experiencing major vibrations on the plane after the flock of birds got trapped in the right engine.
The Airbus A330-300 was being inspected by engineers after it emergency landed on the South runway earlier today, as Aer Lingus work to get passengers to Chicago later.
An Aer Lingus passenger jet was forced to make an emergency landing in Dublin just minutes after take-off after a bird strike. (file image)
Footage from passengers on board showed the Aer Lingus aircraft taking off for Chicago as normal
Footage posted online showed the aircraft initially speeding down the runway ahead of take-off.
However, further video posted by one of the passengers then showed Flight EI123 back on the ground, with fire crews racing towards it.
The camera then panned towards two officers on the ground while engineers began to inspect the damage caused.
Along with the video, one of the passengers wrote on Twitter: ‘My #AerLingus flight EI123 from Dublin to Chicago just had a bird strike in number 2 engine on take-off.
‘Captain says it was a flock of pigeons.
‘Major vibration after take-off lead to an emergency landing back in Dublin. Happened today April 13 at 12pm.’
Aer Lingus confirmed that the aircraft landed safely, where passengers and cabin crew disembarked.
A spokesman for the airline said: ‘Aer Lingus flight EI123 operating from Dublin to Chicago this afternoon was required to turn back when the aircraft experienced a bird strike shortly after take-off.
‘The aircraft landed safely at Dublin Airport and all customers and crew are safely disembarking.
After the emergency landing, engineers were seen inspecting the aircraft’s damaged engine
Passengers reported experiencing major vibrations on the plane after the flock of birds got trapped in the right engine. Pictured: Officers by the aircraft
The map above shows the Aer Lingus flight’s short journey, leaving Dublin before turning back immediately
‘We are working on getting impacted customers to their destination as quickly as possible.’
A spokesman for the daa added: ‘Dublin Airport’s Fire and Rescue Service was on hand to safely escort flight EI123 to a stand on Thursday afternoon when it landed back at Dublin Airport after the aircraft encountered an issue shortly after take-off.
‘The emergency response has subsequently been stood down.’
A similar incident took place last September when an Aer Lingus flight taking Tánaiste Micheal Martin to the UN General Assembly in New York was forced to U-turn after a bird strike.
This time, however, the flight was 90 minutes into its journey to JFK Airport, when it was forced to land back in Dublin.
