July 7, 2009

A flight headed to Providence, R.I., returned safely to Baltimore Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport after at least one bird struck an engine during takeoff, Southwest Airlines officials said.

Flight 69, a 737 carrying 137 passengers, struck the bird at about 5:20 p.m., spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said. One or more birds hit the engine while it was taking off from runway 28, airport spokesman Jonathan Dean said.

The plane landed safely and no injuries were reported, Eichinger said. Mechanics tended to the aircraft.