FedEx plane makes emergency landing with engine on fire at Newark Airport after bird strike
NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- A FedEx cargo plane that had just taken off from Newark Airport struck a bird Saturday morning, setting the engine on fire and forcing the crew to turn around and make a successful emergency landing.
Nobody was hurt in the frightening spectacle of the Boeing 767, one of its engines ablaze, flying back toward the airport just before 8 a.m. Saturday.
"We just heard a real loud boom. Like when I say boom, it was so loud. We came to see what it was. And next thing I know, I was so afraid, it was like, I saw a fire," said a witness who identified himself only as Sporty.
The FAA said the agency is investigating the incident that led to a brief shutdown of Newark Liberty International Airport. FedEx Flight 3609 had just departed from Newark en route to Indianapolis when it struck the bird and was forced to turn around with an engine on fire.
"Our crew declared an emergency and returned safely to Newark. We are thankful for the quick actions of our crew and first responders," FedEx said in a statement.
Sporty and Ed Hodges were just a few miles away from the airport when the bird strike happened and say the sound was so loud that they initially thought an earthquake had shaken New Jersey.
But shock quickly turned to fear when they saw the plane on fire heading toward the airport.
"The sound is very loud and it's just scary ... nobody wants to be on a plane and, you know, (have it) come down on ... like down in Philly," Hodges said, referring to the deadly January plunge moments after takeoff of a medical jet into a shopping center in Philadelphia.
Witness Sofiane Zeblah told ABC News she was driving when she saw something fall from the sky. She started recording on her phone.
"I was driving and saw something falling and then fire starts on the right wing engine. I believe a bird went through the engine, a big bird," Zeblah saud. "I was in shock. I stopped immediately on the turnpike. Thankfully nothing happened."
Aviation safety has been top of mind due to incidents like the Philadelphia crash and, two days earlier, the collision between a military helicopter and a commercial airliner that left 67 dead in the waters of the icy Potomac River.
Data from the National Transportation Safety Board shows numbers have improved. There were 64 aviation accidents in January and 55 in February, the lowest numbers since 1982 for those months. These numbers include accidents involving substantial damage to the plane, or that killed or injured passengers and crew.
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