SITKA, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Airlines pilot says an eagle looked like it was on a “suicide mission” as it flew straight toward his jet just before the bird was sucked into an engine as the aircraft was taking off in Sitka.
Pilot Steve Cleary tells the Daily Sitka Sentinel he heard the bird hitting the engine Sunday morning as the Boeing 737-400 was roaring down the runway at 140 miles-per-hour.
None of the 134 passengers or five crew members aboard Seattle-bound Flight 68 was hurt, but the mishap aborted the flight.
Cleary says he has hit birds before, but the damage to the $7 million engine was the most extensive he’d seen. He says all the blades were destroyed.
