JetBlue Flight Diverted After Bird Strike: Over 10,000 Birds Killed Every Year From Strikes

A JetBlue flight headed to Fort Myers, Fla. had to be diverted after a bird strike right after takeoff, a scenario that's all too common for pilots - there are over 10,000 bird strikes annually, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Bird Strike Committee.

The JetBlue flight, which took off from the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y. at approximately 7:46 a.m. had to make an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy airport in Queens, N.Y., according to the Associated Press.

The plane, JetBlue Flight 1205, safely landed in the New York City suburb at 8:25 a.m., never leaving the state.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the aircraft diverted to John F. Kennedy airport for inspection and landed safely at 8:25 AM," JetBlue announced in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

While commercial aviation aircraft engines are built to continue flying even after swatting down a bird of any size, the weight of some species of birds in the United States is too much for some planes to handle.

But many New Yorkers are familiar with the dangers posed by bird strikes.

In 2009, US Airways Flight 1559 was hit with a bird strike and was forced to land on New York's Hudson River - Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, of California, calmly landed his flight over the water after a flock of geese struck his engines.

Although Sullenberger was given instruction by air traffic controllers to land in Teterboro Airport in N.J., he told them he had to land on the Hudson River because of the strong impact of the bird strike.