July 29, 2009

Witnesses Say Plane Struck Bird, Disabling One Engine

An American Airlines MD-80 jet bound for Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing at Lambert Airport shortly after takeoff just after 2:00pm Wednesday.

A passenger on board AA Flight 449 says the plane was still climbing and was in a turn near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers when he saw a bird “go into the engine.”

“I was looking out the window when i saw a big ole white thing flash by then the engine jarred like someone dropped a ton of bricks on it,” Steve Quinlivan told FOX 2 by phone while waiting for a new plane. “Then I saw the whole thing come out the back end of it. They said we hit a bird and it smelled like me barbequing and forgetting my barbecue. It was a horrible smell.”

In fact American Airlines confirms it was the plane’s right engine that was disabled by the collision with the bird. Airline officials say the pilot immediately declared an emergency and returned to Lambert.

One Hundred-Forty people were on board at the time of the collision. No one was injured.