United Airlines blamed a "bird strike" for forcing an LA-bound flight to return to Sydney Airport in Australia about a half hour after taking off on Monday morning.
United Flight 840, bound for Los Angeles, was carrying 308 passengers and crew when it took off about 9:40 a.m., local time, reported the
Sydney Morning Herald.
"We were only in the flight maybe 30 minutes," passenger Anne Hankins told the Associated Press. "(The) pilot came on and said that people in the front had seen birds, and that the pilot had seen birds, a flock of birds flew into both engines, and so they were going to turn us around and come back but it would take about 45 minutes."
The airliner circled over the ocean dumping fuel before it could return to the Sydney Airport shortly after 11 a.m., said the Morning Herald.
"United Airlines confirmed the aircraft safely returned to the airport at 11:13 a.m. and the flight has been canceled," the airline said in a statement. "United Airlines is currently working to re-accommodate passengers on the next available flight and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said it was waiting for United to give it details of the incident before determining if they should launch its own investigation, reported
The Australian. The bureau said wildlife has become a "chief source" of aviation activity hazards.
The circular flight pattern was captured on Twitter by Flightradar.com.