It's A Bird! It's a Plane! Bird, Meet Plane

This is the OKC Thunder plane as it arrived in Chicago.  They claim the plane hit a bird.

That must have been one big freaking bird...






bob


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Something I remember from my flying days; it could have been a Canada goose.

Bird strikes can happen around airports, but once in a while, also at altitude.  Geese can climb up there pretty far. I once had a fellow student at my flight school get hit by a goose well over 6,000 feet.  Did serious damage to a wing. Minor miracle he made it back and landed safely. I've heard reliable reports of geese well up over 20,000 feet where a commercial jet might encounter them on climb out or decent. Supposedly there have been reports closer to 30,000 feet.

That nose cone is a fairly thin structure too, due to the avionic equipment located there.