By AP/KWMU
St. Louis – An American Airlines flight made an emergency landing moments after taking off from St. Louis when a bird was sucked into an engine.
The MD-80 was heading from Lambert Airport to Los Angeles Tuesday afternoon.
An American Airlines spokeswoman says the pilot noticed a bird, believed to be a red-tailed hawk, flying into the right engine as the plane took off shortly after 2 p.m.
The captain declared an emergency and landed without incident a few minutes later.
Another MD-80 was brought in, and the passengers and crew took off later yesterday.