Description

On March 15, 2007, at night, a Boeing 767-300, operated by United Airlines, experienced a bird strike after take-off from Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois. The airplane encountered a flock of ducks about 800 feet above ground level (AGL) resulting in the complete failure of the left engine. The crew was able to land the airplane safely.

Synopsis

This is an extract from the official accident report (CHI07LA093) published by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), USA:

According to the captain, the landing lights illuminated the birds for "less than a second" before the airplane impacted them. There were multiple bird strikes in the vicinity of the cockpit. The left engine then experienced a series of compressor stalls and there were 3 or 4 "bangs" before the first officer retarded the throttle, The engine stabilized around the mid throttle position for a few seconds. The first officer adjusted the throttle again and then there was one more "bang" after which the engine flamed out. The left engine was secured and they continued flying towards Lake Michigan climbing to 5,000 feet mean sea level. There were no problematic right engine indications. The flight crew then executed an approach to and performed an overweight landing on runway 32 where it landed without further incident.

In the Wreckage and Impact Information section, the Report states: