Bird strike leads to emergency landing at South Bend International Airport

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A scary situation for passengers at the South Bend International Airport Friday, when a bird strike forced an emergency landing. 

SkyWest has confirmed to ABC57 that the plane made an emergency landing due to a possible bird strike. It provided the following statement:

SkyWest flight 3837, operating as Delta Connection from South Bend, Indiana to Detroit, returned to South Bend shortly after takeoff due to a possible bird strike. Our maintenance team has inspected the aircraft and cleared it to return to service. The flight has since departed for Detroit.

A Delta flight from South Bend to Detroit took off just after 8:00 am but soon had to turn around and return to the airport due to a bird strike. The airport control tower was in constant contact with the flight crew and had emergency crews standing by. Thankfully, no one was injured and the plane landed safely.

The plane, Delta flight 3837, operated by SkyWest, was inspected by maintenance crews and it was cleared to fly. It took off again around 10:30 a.m. and landed safely in Detroit a little after 12:30 p.m.

Linda Rohlinger, a Delta passenger flying to Florida, stated that she prays every time she gets on an airplane, but in the past few years, she has specifically added a part about avoiding birds to her prayer.

"It didn't surprise me, I hear about it pretty regularly, that's why it's part of my prayer. I think if I was in a lightning storm, I would probably pray that the lightning doesn't hit the aircraft as well, but I think it's a common occurrence somewhat and so that's why it's part of my prayer," said Rohlinger.

This is not the only recent incident recently involving a bird and a Delta flight. On Saturday, a plane from Salt Lake City to Detroit struck a bird and had to return, before a different plane took passengers to Detroit.