Bird strike turns back LaGuardia-bound flight

A Spirit Airlines flight bound for LaGuardia Airport was forced to return to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport after a bird strike Monday morning.

Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Misty Pinson said Flight 758 from Fort Lauderdale did an "air return" due to the bird strike.

"It was a normal landing, safe landing," she said last night. "No issues. We deplaned the passengers and put them on another aircraft."

The subsequent flight departed around 2:15 p.m. and reached LaGuardia around 5 p.m., she said.

Pinson added that the plane that struck a bird Monday morning was inspected and put back into operation.

The Miami Herald reported that, shortly after the original takeoff, a bird struck the plane's nose and the flight's captain decided to return to the airport as a precaution.

A US Airways jet struck on takeoff from LaGuardia last winter led to the landing on the Hudson River. After that Jan. 15 incident, investigators found that Canada geese had struck the plane's two engines.

Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III guided the plane, carrying 155 crew members and passengers, to its landing on the Hudson.