A FedEx cargo plane is seen amongst air freight containers at a FedEx regional hub.
Bing Guan | Reuters
A FedEx cargo plan made an emergency touchdown at a busy New Jersey airport on Saturday after a chicken strike prompted an engine hearth that may very well be seen within the morning sky.
The airplane landed at Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport in the course of the emergency, stated Lenis Valens, a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. There have been no reported accidents, and hearth on the cargo airplane was contained to the engine, Valens stated.
Audio recorded by LiveATC captured an individual calmly saying the plane wanted to “shut down for a potential chicken strike” instantly. “We have to return to the airport.”
Moments later, one other particular person is heard saying: “We consider we noticed their engine fall off the appropriate wing.” The audio signifies the strike occurred when the airplane was a number of hundred ft off the bottom.
The emergency touchdown prompted air site visitors to be briefly halted as a precaution, and operations resumed shortly after, Valens stated. The emergency touchdown occurred simply after 8 a.m. Three individuals have been on board, and all obtained off the airplane safely, Valens stated.
Video by Mike Bova exhibiting FedEx airplane within the sky, in Newark, N.J., on March, 1, 2025.
A spokesperson for FedEx stated the airplane was headed for Indianapolis however because of the chicken strike “declared an emergency and returned safely to Newark after coping with the ensuing engine injury,” which included an engine hearth.
“The coaching, experience, and professionalism demonstrated by our FedEx pilots was exemplary. We’re grateful for the short actions of our crew and first responders,” stated the spokesperson, Austin Kemker.
Kenneth Hoffman, a pilot on one other flight, stated as his flight was pushing off, they heard from air site visitors management that there was an emergency in progress. Hoffman posted a video on social media of a FedEx airplane on the bottom on the Newark airport with flames capturing from its facet because it slowed to a cease with hearth rescue tools close by.
Whereas it appeared like everybody was OK, there was a whole lot of smoke and the airport was shut down for 15 to twenty minutes, Hoffman stated.
The pilots’ response was nice, Hoffman stated.
“They dealt with it like champs,” he stated. “On the finish of the day, that is what our coaching is all about.”
The Federal Aviation Administration stated it can examine the incident. The FAA stated in an announcement that the “strike broken one of many Boeing 767’s engines.” The Nationwide Transportation Security Board additionally stated it might examine.
Hen strikes are aviation hazards that typically trigger main disruptions. Birds have been blamed for bringing down a jetliner that “Sully” Sullenberger landed on the Hudson River in 2009.
The FAA has stated chicken strikes are growing, with greater than 19,000 wildlife strikes at 713 U.S. airports in 2023. Solely hardly ever do they trigger a lot injury that jetliners are compelled to make emergency landings.
The emergency touchdown comes at a time of heightened consciousness of flight issues. Previously month, there have been 4 main aviation disasters in North America. They embody the Feb. 6 crash of a commuter airplane in Alaska that killed all 10 individuals on board and the Jan. 26 midair collision between an Military helicopter and an American Airways flight at Nationwide Airport that killed all 67 aboard the 2 plane.
