Flight Grounded When Pigeons Fly Into Engine

COSTA MESA — A US Air Boeing 757 headed for Pittsburgh on Saturday morning was forced to abort its takeoff from John Wayne Airport when a flock of pigeons flew into one of the plane’s engines and caused an “implosion,” airport officials said.

“The plane had gone a short distance and the engine made a noise,” airport spokeswoman Pat Ware said. “It had ingested a flock of pigeons, which blew the left engine. The pilot immediately aborted the takeoff and taxied to one of the far runways before being towed back to the terminal.”

There were 106 passengers aboard when the 8 a.m. incident occurred. No one was injured. Ware said that while occasionally a pigeon will fly into a jet engine, this is the first time she can recall a flock being sucked in.