Aer Lingus flight to Chicago makes emergency landing at Dublin Airport after bird strike

Aer Lingus flight number EI123 is back on the tarmac at Dublin following the incident.

According to airlive.net, the Airbus A330-300 had taken off from the North runway at 11.12am but was forced to make a U-turn to carry out an emergency landing.

The 16 year-old plane with the registration EI-EIK) landed back at Dublin Airport, on South runway, only 15 minutes later after the bird strike in the number two engine.

The bird strike apparently caused major vibration from the right engine.

The aircraft was met by fire engines as it landed. An inspection is currently underway to see if the flight can be resumed on this plane.

One passenger tweeted: “My #AerLingus flight EI123 from Dublin to Chicago just had a bird strike in number 2 engine on take-off. Captain says it was a flock of pigeons.

“Major vibration after takeoff lead to an emergency landing back in Dublin. Happened today April 13 at 12pm. #7700 #emergencylanding.”

A spokesperson for Aer Lingus said their Dublin to Chicago flight EI123 “this afternoon was required to turn back when the aircraft experienced a bird strike shortly after take-off”.

"The aircraft landed safely at Dublin Airport and all customers and crew are safely disembarking,” the spokesperson said. “We are working on getting impacted customers to their destination as quickly as possible.’’