Melody

As a pilot, I can say that without a doubt, birds are the single deadliest airborne danger for a pilot.

The deadliest crash involving a commercial flight and birds was in 1960. It was an Eastern Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra and a flock of starlings. The flight departed Boston and flew into a flock of starlings. All four engines suffered catastrophic damage and the plane went down killing 62 people aboard, 9 people survived.

Geese have been a problem around airports for a long time. Airports and airlines spend millions of dollars every year trying to figure out how to keep birds from congregating around airports. Airplane manufacturers spend millions and millions of dollars on maintenance every year repairing damage done by engines that have ingested birds.

A friend of ours was killed by a turkey buzzard that went through the cockpit of his T-2 (a Navy trainer) at 10,000' . No one ever thought they would see a turkey buzzard that high in the air.

So yes, Melody, a bird ingested in the engine of an commercial airliner at a low altitude can cause it to have to make an emergency landing.

Be thankful the crew knew exactly what happened and did everything right and saved all those people!