A FedEx cargo plane made an emergency landing Saturday morning at Newark Liberty International Airport after striking a bird mere seconds into its takeoff, authorities reported.
Boeing 767 which was headed to Indianapolis suffered engine damage following a bird strike at takeoff. The right engine on fire approximately 10 minutes after the aircraft took off, and the pilots had to return to Newark. There were no injuries reported on the crew.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="1080px" width="1920px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported the air traffic in Newark was momentarily halted as precaution, but standard traffic was subsequently restored after the plane landed securely. Fire seen in bystander videos was emitting from the airplane, with confused onlookers responding to what happened.
“Hang on, man! Something has just exploded!” one of the onlookers claimed in a clip of the burning plane during descent. The second clip was filmed from the interior of a vehicle and illustrated the plane dropping as it went up in flames.
The crash-landing is after mounting popular clamor on safety in air transportation following recent tragic incidents. On January 30, an American Airlines plane collided with a US Army helicopter over the Potomac River, killing everyone on board both planes, a total of 67 individuals. Two days later, a medical transport plane crashed into a Philadelphia residential area, killing seven. A mid-February accident at Toronto Pearson Airport also injured at least 18 individuals when a plane with 80 passengers on board flipped over.
These incidents have led to an increase in internet searches about the security of flight. Despite the recent crashes, figures provided by the National Transportation Safety Board indicate that aviation remains statistically secure, with most dangerous crashes being in smaller planes with less regulation.
