Bird Strike Forces Boeing 747 Cargo Plane Back to SFO

A China Airlines Boeing 747 was forced to return to San Francisco International Airport Saturday afternoon after striking a bird shortly after take-off, an airport official reported.

The Boeing, carrying cargo on a trans-Pacific flight, landed back at SFO without incident at 2:55 p.m., said Jeff Figone, airport duty manager. Under Federal Aviation Administration rules, the bird strike raised concerns about safety that necessitated the aircraft’s return, Figone said.

The Twitter account @EightOneECHO tweeted that flight 5107 left San Francisco at 1:39 p.m. and was bound for Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport. The account, citing air traffic control communications, said there was possible damage to instruments and shared a video of the plane apparently dumping fuel as it made its return to the airport.

Figone said it would be typical for a plane, loaded with enough fuel for a trans-Pacific flight, to need to off-load some of the fuel in order to make a safe landing. He said the plane would undergo checks of its instruments.

According to another report, the plane refueled and returned to the air later in the day.

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