VANCOUVER - A United Airlines flight bound for Denver had to abort its takeoff from YVR on Friday due to a possible bird strike.
United Flight 1184 was scheduled to take off at 12:30 p.m. on Friday for Denver. YVR's website is now showing that it will depart at 8:45 p.m.
Charlie Hobart, a spokesperson for United Airlines, said the flight aborted takeoff due to a possible bird strike, and the airline is working to bring its customers back to the terminal. That process involved bringing a set of air stairs out to the aircraft so the passengers could de-plane and get on a bus to the terminal.
"In the meantime, we'll have our maintenance crews on the ground thoroughly inspect the aircraft, and depending on the severity of any sort of maintenance issue, we may likely take it out of service," said Hobart. "When we do get a new aircraft, we'll work to get those customers to their destinations."
Hobart said this type of incident is very rare, and no one was injured in the incident. The airline said there were 121 passengers and five crew members on board.
Several firetrucks were seen hosing down the brakes and wheels of the plane as it sat on the tarmac.
A passenger on the plane tweeted that the aircraft hit a bird, which required the plane to make an emergency stop. He also posted that the plane blew its tires. United did not confirm the extent of the damage to the aircraft.
The airport says there has been no impact to its operations because of the incident.
Photos provided by Paul Friesen.
