MANILA, Philippines?A Cebu Pacific plane landed safely in Tacloban, Leyte, airport despite flying into a swarm of birds that left one of its engines damaged yesterday morning.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, in a statement, said a ?bird strike? damaged the left engine of Cebu Pacific flight 5J562, an Airbus 319, as it was about to land at the airport at around 6:30 a.m. yesterday.
A source at the Cebu Pacific confirmed that the engine of the plane, which had 125 passengers on board, ingested a bird shortly before landing.
According to the Cebu Pacific source, passengers reported a popping sound as the plane approached the runway. The passengers did not panic, the source said, because the plane was almost on the ground.
The aircraft was currently being ?maintained,? the source said. Kristine L. Alave
