NWA flight hits birds, returns safely to Minneapolis airport

A Northwest Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas hit a flock of pigeons shortly after takeoff Saturday, forcing the pilots to return to Minneapolis. No one was hurt.

The plane hit roughly 15 pigeons about 2:40 p.m. while departing from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, said Melissa Scovronski, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

"The pilots sent out an alert call and said they needed to turn around," she said. "They returned safely and taxied to the gate."

Northwest flight 195 had 202 passengers and seven crew members aboard, said Northwest spokeswoman Ashley Black. She said all the passengers were moved to another Northwest flight.

Mechanics were inspecting the aircraft but it was too soon to know whether there was any damage, she said.

Tony Molinaro, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the Boeing 757 suffered damage to its nose dome. Because the plane hit the pigeons head-on, there appeared to be little danger of the birds getting sucked into the engines, he said.

"As far as I know the plane wasn't in any danger," he said. "There were no distress calls and it landed normally."

The FAA will investigate the incident, he said.