Horizon Air plane had to return to airport after collision with Eagle
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Horizon Air plane had to return to airport after collision with Eagle

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

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A Horizon Air flight was forced to turn around and land after an eagle struck the plane.

Around noon on December 24, Horizon Air Flight 2041 took off from Anchorage, Alaska, en route to Fairbanks. Shortly afterward, a bird struck the plane, forcing the crew to turn around and land in Anchorage, an airline spokesman said.

After landing, the airline exchanged the aircraft and the passengers continued to fly safely to Fairbanks.

“The captain and first officer are trained for these situations and landed the aircraft safely without any problems,” an airline spokesman said The Independent in a statement. “No state of emergency has been declared.”

“The aircraft was taken out of service for inspection and has since returned to service,” the spokesman added.

Horizon Air is owned by Alaska Air Group, which also includes Alaska Airlines.

A spokesman for Horizon Air, owned by Alaska Air Group, said the crew was trained for the incident and no emergency was declared

A spokesman for Horizon Air, owned by Alaska Air Group, said the crew was trained for the incident and no emergency was declared (AFP via Getty Images)

Michelle Tatela, a passenger aboard the flight, told representatives from local airline KTUU that an eagle struck the plane – and it survived.

“The eagle survived then,” Tatela told the outlet. “And there were a lot of police cars around the plane.”

“Normally it would be a scarier situation, but knowing it was a bird… and then they said the eagle was coming to the eagle hospital and it had a broken wing,” she added.

Officials transported the bird to the Alaska Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage. Executive director Laura Atwood told KTUU that the bird’s injuries – which included an open fracture to its left wing – were too extensive and it was euthanized upon arrival.

“(It’s a) Christmas Eve story,” Tatela said. “We say, ‘Only in Alaska do you have to wait for a new plane because an eagle flew on one.'”

This incident comes after a Jeju Air plane crashed in South Korea this week, killing 179 people. The airport control tower issued a bird strike warning shortly before the scheduled landing.

The plane crashed after skidding across the runway and hitting a wall, causing it to burst into flames.

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