On Thursday, December 12, an 
American Airlines
flight was diverted to New York John F. Kennedy Airport after experiencing bird strike on take-off from La Guardia.
AA1722 to Charlotte
American Airlines had scheduled an Airbus A321 service from La Guardia (LGA) to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) for Thursday, December 12. Its expected departure time was 19:20. However, the flight only departed the gate at 19:43. According to data from Flightradar24, the aircraft took off in a westerly direction, expected to turn south for its journey to North Carolina; however, shortly after take-off, the flight encountered bird strike.
Photo: Michael Gordon | Shutterstock
According to witness reports, as shared on ABC 7 Eye Witness News, just minutes after take-off, the flight struck a flock of birds, and one got stuck in the engine, causing the pilots to request an emergency landing and divert to New York’s busiest airport (JFK) operating with just one engine. A recording from the pilot to air traffic control explains the situation:
“It appears we have an engine failure, but we’re still kind of working through to figure out what’s going on. We hit birds on we hit birds on the on the way out.”
190 passengers and six crew unharmed
Operating with just one engine, the A321 could divert and land safely at New York JFK Airport
, where passengers were disembarked from the aircraft. American Airlines maintenance team on the ground is inspecting the aircraft, and at the time of writing, the aircraft (bearing registration N133AN) remains grounded at the airport.
In a statement, American Airlines shared:
“We are grateful to our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this may have caused.”
Affected passengers were accommodated onto a new flight the following day and were provided hotel and meal vouchers.
Related
How Common & Dangerous Are Bird Strikes In US Aviation?
A six-fold increase in instances of bird strikes have been reported.
Airbus A321, registration N133AN
The affected aircraft was an American Airlines Airbus A321. According to ch-Aviation, It took its first test flight under German Airbus registration D-AVZO on February 20, 2015; it holds the serial number 6482 and was delivered to American Airlines on March 3 that same year.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
Powered by two International Aero Engines V2533-A5, the aircraft is configured to carry 20 first and 170 economy class passengers, with a pilot, co-pilot, and four cabin crew onboard.
In the day leading up to the bird strike, the aircraft had operated the below flights as per Flightradar24:
- AA381 from Seattle to Charlotte
- AA1722 from Charlotte to New York La Guardia
- AA1722 from La Guardia to Charlotte (which was diverted due to the bird strike)
Bird strikes in the United States
While there are varying levels of bird strikes, the worst cases can lead to engine failure and catastrophic consequences if not handled correctly.
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It has now been over 14 years since the incident occurred.
Around 97% of all bird strikes occur near the airport. This is when the aircraft is at a low altitude or just as it’s taking off. The amount of damage that the aircraft can occur depends on the size and weight of the bird, the larger the bird, the more impressive the damage.
While bird strikes can pose a significant threat to aircraft safety, pilots are well trained in operating the aircraft should an engine fail and, if required, declare mayday and request an emergency landing. Depending on where the bird could hit, the repercussions could be a damaged engine, nose cone, or broken windscreen.
While a small majority of bird strikes damage an aircraft, this can cause significant airline interruptions and increase maintenance costs. Most airports have mitigation programs in place to displace flocks of birds to reduce the risk of bird strikes.