Geese smacked into a JetBlue plane taking off from Westchester County Airport tonight, sparking a frightening emergency that sent the crippled jet back to the airport.
“We got to come back. We hit two big geese,” a pilot aboard Flight 571 to West Palm Beach radioed to air controllers just after the plane lifted off at about 6:45 p.m.
“We are declaring an emergency,” the pilot said.
As controllers rerouted planes and helicopters taking off and landing at the airport in Harrison, the pilots of the Embraer jet made it roughly six miles northwest of the airport before they turned back.
They on the ground about seven minutes after the crisis began.
“JetBlue 571, nice to have you back,” a relieved controller radioed as the Embraer jet landed at 6:52 p.m.
The jet was an Embraer 190, which can carry 114 passengers. It was unclear how many people were board the goose-crippled flight. Authorities and the airline did not return phone calls.