UC Davis men's basketball team's flight returns to airport after bird strike
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - UC Davis men's basketball team had an in-flight emergency Tuesday and had to land after it hit a bird.
The team's play-by-play announcer, Scott Marsh, was on the flight with the team and posted on Facebook that, just as the plane was taking off from Sacramento International Airport, there was a "terrible noise" from the plane's engine. About 10 minutes later, he says, the pilot announced that, during takeoff, the plane hit a bird. He said the engine was still functioning and that they were returning to the airport.
According to a Sacramento International Airport spokesperson, after the plane hit the bird with its left engine, it circled a few times and then landed without incident.
"Thanks to the amazing skill and cool-headedness of our pilot crew, were able to make a very successful emergency landing back in Sacramento," Marsh said. "I have never landed before to police sirens, fire trucks, and imbalances on the runway,"
UC Davis Athletic Director Rocko DeLuca tweeted, in part: "So thankful everyone is safe thanks to the talented pilots/crew."
No one was injured.
The team was headed to the Los Angeles area to play Cal State Northridge at the time.
No further information was released.
Bird strikes are common at Sacramento International Airport, which sits along the Pacific Flyway, a migratory route for millions of birds.
Some bird strikes are hardly felt, while others have severe impacts. An avian radar system is now used at the airport to track flocks and even individual birds flying up to five miles away from the airfield.