A Boeing 737 MAX plane, which took off with 167 passengers and six crew members, had to cancel its flight and return to the aircraft park following a collision with a coyote.
The flight, which left Chicago International Airport in the direction of Phoenix, retraced its steps because it was feared that the plane's landing gear had been damaged during the collision with the wolf, which was roaming the runway.
"On Sunday morning, our flight was canceled and the plane returned to Chicago International Airport to test the plane's landing gear due to a wolf being hit during takeoff," said a United Airlines spokesperson. The spokesperson noted that the company transferred its customers to another plane, which left in the afternoon to the original destination of the morning flight. The company added in a statement that none of the passengers or crew members were injured during the incident.
The fact that the plane hit a coyote is not surprising as in the United States collisions between animals and planes often occur. In fact, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, in 2023 there will be more than 17,200 collisions between wildlife and aircraft. The director also noted that from 1990 to 2023, there were about 310,000 collision incidents in the United States, where in most cases birds were involved.
* Yisrael Hayom contributed to this article.
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