Terrifying moment bird strike knocks out plane’s engine 30,000ft above Heathrow

Passengers are said to have been terrified by a bird strike that blew out the engine of a jumbo jet at 30,000-feet after take-off.

The flight, which set off from Heathrow, was forced into making a dramatic turnaround after one of the engines on the plane shut down following a bird strike.

Police officers and firefighters were on hand upon the emergency landing, which saw the United Airlines jet make a touchdown back at Heathrow some time after it had jetted off.

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The plane, which had been hoping to make it all the way to New York, United States, ended up back on the runway an hour after take off.

One source said: "It was horrible for everyone. No-one knew what happened, then panic broke out."

Flight UA883 had made the surprise U-turn after a bird strike occurred just after take off at 8:10am, with the U-turn and return to Heathrow marked at 9:20am.

Heathrow staff are on hand to deal with birds that pose a threat or hazard to aircraft, and according to the Federal Aviation Authority, there were 16,000 wildlife strikes in 2018.

That marks a total of 40 incidents a day for those hoping to take to the skies.

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Speaking to The Sun, United Airlines said: "Our team at London Heathrow is providing assistance to customers of United flight 883 (London Heathrow-New York/Newark) today, which returned to Heathrow following a bird strike.

"The aircraft landed safely and passengers disembarked normally. We are making arrangements for our customers to complete their journeys as soon as possible."

Animals and their risks to flight safety appear to be a common occurrence, with the infamous rampaging crocodile incident from 2012 leaving 20 dead after a horror crash.

Daily Star reported the Filair Let L-410 flight disaster, which saw a crocodile survive the plane crash, but not the locals on the ground below.

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