American Airlines passengers feared for their lives Thursday when a bird flew into the engine of an outbound LaGuardia flight, forcing the plane to quickly make an emergency landing at another airport in the city.
Flight 1722 took off from LGA just after 7:20 p.m. and was scheduled to land at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina within two hours, but the plane narrowly missed the coast of Long Island before abandoning its destination. It was changed and forced to land. According to aviation radar, it landed at JFK International Airport.
According to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the bird hit the Airbus A321’s engine, causing severe damage that completely disabled the propellant on the right side.
The plane, powered only by its secondary engine, landed safely at JFK Airport without incident, according to the Port Authority.
A surreal video taken by a passenger shows the moment the bird is sucked into the plane’s engine.
A clip posted to X shows the moment the engine sucks in the winged craft, and it appears to ignite and explode on impact as the plane tips sideways.
Passengers on the grounded plane told the Post they thought the worst when they saw flames while waiting for their luggage at the baggage carousel at JFK Airport’s Terminal 8.
“I thought I was going to die,” said Amy Stamper of Tennessee.
“It was scary. I thought I was going to die. There were a few small explosions. Then there was a fire,” Stamper said in disbelief.
Another passenger, who requested anonymity, expressed similarly distressing sentiments.
“I was right next to the wing and I saw it. I saw two flames in the sky…I thought I was going to die. I prayed. I thought I was going to die for about 30 seconds,” the man said.
Eric Hariri, 43, was also shaken by the plane’s failure.
“I think it was a very traumatic experience, and to make matters worse, we had to wait for more than an hour to receive our luggage,” Hariri complained.
“I wanted the day to end, but the day never ended.”
Hariri, who was in New York on business, said he “absolutely” feared for his life.
The father of two told the Post that at the moment he believed Flight 1722 might crash, all he thought about was his children and wife.
“The first thing that came to mind was that I couldn’t go back to them,” Hariri said gloomily.
Hariri, who was carrying a bag of Junior’s Cheesecake treats, said he was disappointed he couldn’t bring snacks to his wife Thursday night.
Miss Rady, 26, was flying back to Florida via Charlotte after spending her honeymoon with her newlywed husband in New York when, in a twist of fate, she boarded a rerouted flight.
“I actually missed my first flight. This is my second time,” she told the Post. “It’s what God has provided.”
“Some people were scared. It was a little scary… It felt like the car was going to backfire. It’s shaking a little bit,” Misrady said. “I didn’t think much of it at first, but when I saw the (reactions) of the people around me, I thought, ‘This might be bad.'”
The passenger, who only gave his first name, said American Airlines flight attendants did a good job calming the distressed passengers.
American Airlines said in a statement that no injuries were reported in the incident.
The airline said its flight to Charlotte was scheduled to re-depart Friday morning and customers were offered hotel accommodations that night.
The Federal Aviation Administration did not respond to The Post’s request for comment at the time of publication.
