Southwest Airlines: Flight Struck By Birds Just After Takeoff

EL PASO, TX – New pictures obtained by KVIA show a Southwest Airlines 737 sustained significant damage Saturday afterSouthwest Airlines officialssayit struck a flock of birds shortly after takeoff on a flight to Dallas.

Southwest Airlines spokesman, Chris Mainz confirms that the aircraft was struck by a flock of birds and the crew subsequently made the decision to return. After reaching the airport, the flight was cancelled and the plane was sent for repair. Passengers were re-booked through an alternate connecting flight. No injuries were reported.

Photographs taken by a passenger on that flight show the impact to both the front part of the plane near the nose, and on a rear stabilizer wing. A section of metal approximately a foot long is peeled back in two directions along a seam near the nose of the plane. The wing appears to have a similar size hole, with the adjacent metal bulging.

Though the situation is unusual for the altitude at which the birds were struck, migratory birds have been known to fly as high as 20,000 feet.

A passengerABC-7 spoke with Thursdayreports a member of the crew had just cleared those aboard to use electronic devices, but then came back over the intercom to say the plane would need to turn back to El Paso. The clearance to use electronic devices usually happens after an airliner clears 10,000 feet in elevation.

NTSB Spokesman Peter Knudson said they are aware of the incident and that the Arlington, Texas office of the NTSB is evaluating the incident. Knudson said that based on the photos sent to him, the damage doesn’t look substantial enough to merit an ‘accident’ declaration in which NTSB resources and investigative personnel would be deployed. He said it doesn’t appear that the aircraft was in any danger, but the flight crew did the right thing by returning to El Paso’s airport.

Stay with KVIA.com and ABC-7 for the latest details on this breaking story.