United Nations charter plane forced land at Juba International Airport due to a bird strike. (Photo: Eye Radio)

A bird strike forced a United Nations charter plane destined for Wau to return and land safely at Juba International Airport 10 minutes after it took off on Monday, one of the passengers said.

The UNO-516P plane carried 35 passengers and crew members – mainly the peacekeeping body’s staff, when it experienced the technical glitch.

One of the passengers, who spoke to Eye Radio on condition of anonymity said the crew were forced to cut short the trip after an eagle falcon hit its engine causing damage.

The bird got trapped in the engine, disrupting the normal function of the aero plane, forcing it to disembark from the journey.

“On taking off from Juba, just ten minutes to the flight, the pilot announced that we were making landing back to Juba,” said the source, whom we choose to name as John to protect his identity.

“We saw that there’s extensive damage to the nose of the plane through the nose and to the engine. The eagle falcon struck the aero plane from the front side.”

John commended the pilot for acting with professionality to save their lives without causing any panic to them.

“We had to make an emergency landing, and the pilot seems to be very professional, they didn’t alarm us. If he were to tell us exactly what was happening, people could have panicked, but we never panicked.”

A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft which is in flight or on a takeoff or landing roll. Bird Strike is common and can be a significant threat to aircraft safety.