A JetBlue flight from Boston to Las Vegas landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport Monday evening after it struck birds.
JetBlue Airways Flight 877, an Airbus 320 aircraft, struck the birds after departing Boston Logan International Airport around 4:45 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The crew declared an emergency and initially planned to return to Logan, but could not do so because of the weather, the FAA said.
The plane circled before safely landing at JFK just before 7:30 p.m.
Timeline (local times, 24h format):
23OCT – 16:16: JetBlue flight #B6877 took off from Boston Logan Airport
16:17: The Airbus A320 (N784JB) hit a flock of seagulls – the pilots informed ATC and requested a holding
16:33: After flying a few curves, the flight entered holding at an altitude of 2700ft – emergency services were requested
16:47: ATC was informed that B6877 will be holding for at least 10 more minutes
16:54: The pilots said they want to return to Boston Airport and requested vectors for runway 04R
17:00: The flight was still holding
17:14: After talking to company, the pilots said they will be diverting to New York JFK Airport
17:15: B6877 left the holding
17:18: The pilots requested emergency services at JFK Airport
17:19: The aircraft reached an altitude of 9700ft and is flying to JFK
17:57: B6877 started holding over Long Island at 3700ft
18:55: The flight finally left the holding and is approaching JFK Airport
18:59: Pilots requested runway 13L
19:01: ATC warned nearby aircraft about the emergency
19:25: The Airbus A320 has finally landed at JFK Airport on runway 13L with emergency services on standby
19:28: The pilots informed ATC that no further assistance was needed and the aircraft taxied to its gate
21:33: A replacement aircraft departed JFK Airport to bring the passengers to Las Vegas
23:09 The replacement aircraft landed at LAS Airport. The flight had a total delay of 4 hours and 15 minutes
JetBlue has not indicated whether the plane was damaged.
