Reported Bird Strike Forced Plane Into Holding Pattern Above LAX
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A reported bird strike forced a domestic flight into an extending holding pattern above the city before returning to Los Angeles International Airport early Thursday.
Spirit Airlines flight 310 left LAX for Ft. Lauderdale around 9:50 p.m. Wednesday, according to the airline's flight status guide.
The flight status guide showed the plane made its second takeoff from LAX at 1:51 a.m. Thursday and was scheduled to land in Ft. Lauderdale at 9:36 a.m. local time.
The flight may not have been able to immediately land after the bird strike because the pilot did not declare an emergency, Spirit Airlines spokesman Paul Berry said, so the flight was placed in a holding pattern, or because landing with full fuel tanks was considered too difficult.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)