A Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 banking steeply on LaGuardia Airport's Expressway Visual approach. (Photo by Kaz T)
Flight 1380 lifted off from LaGuardia Airport‘s Runway 13 at 11:53 am enroute to Boston carrying 27 passengers when the incident occurred.
Andy Hornback, a local resident, was working in his backyard when he heard what he described as a “loud bang.” “My wife thought it was an afterburner,” he said via Twitter.
The captain elected to divert the flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport a few miles to the south, where the plane landed safely.
A Delta spokesman said the airline was working to move the affected passengers to Boston either directly from JFK or through LaGuardia.
The dangers of bird strikes gained international attention in January 2009, when multiple geese were sucked into both engines of US Airways Flight 1549, forcing it to ditch in the Hudson River in the incident that would become known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” Authorities have subsequently attempted to exterminate and sterilize birds in the New York City area.
