BIRD STRIKE CAUSES EMERGENCY A United Airlines flight LANDING

Posted on 09/23/2016 | About San Francisco, California

A United Airlines flight from San Francisco made an emergency landing at its destination in Portland Oregon as a result of a bird strike. As much as airports try to mitigate encounters with birds, some take place outside of the airport’s authority and at this time of the year there is increased aviary activity due to migration season.

Flight 766 was minutes from landing when the impact occurred. The cockpit filled with smoke when the pilots requested an emergency landing.
Passengers reported a harder than usual landing and seeing fire trucks on stand-by when they landed. They also sid there was physical damage to the plane’s engine. None of the 163 people on board was injured.
A spokesperson for the Port of Portland said the airport is obligated to deter birds from within 10,000 feet of the runway, but PDX goes beyond that to two miles.
The strike occurred over Tigard, about 14 miles away.
The US Federal Aviation Committee reports that about 52% of bird strikes occur from July to October when young birds fledge from nests and fall migration occurs.