A British Airways flight headed from Washington, D.C., to London Saturday diverted to Boston after a report of a bird strike and smoke in the cabin, officials said.
British Airways Flight 216 landed at Boston Logan International Airport at about 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time “after the crew reported a possible bird strike and fumes in the cabin,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to CBS News.
The Boeing 777 had departed Dulles International Airport and was bound for Heathrow Airport.
A spokesperson for British Airways said the flight was diverted to Boston “as a precaution following a suspected bird strike,” adding that engineers were inspecting the aircraft.
A Massachusetts Port Authority spokesperson told CBS News in an email “a bird was struck” and that the plane “landed without incident.”
No further details were immediately provided. There were no reports of injuries. It’s unclear how many people were aboard the aircraft.
The flight had taken off from Dulles shortly after 5:30 p.m., according to air traffic data from FlightAware.com.
The FAA said it will investigate the incident.
The number of reported bird strikes in the U.S. has been steadily rising, according to the FAA, which maintains a database that records collisions between aircraft and wildlife. It attributes the increase to several variables, including growing wildlife populations, an increase in aviation traffic, and a trend towards quieter aircraft.
In 2023, about 19,400 bird strikes were reported at 713 U.S. airports, the FAA says.
