Bird strike forces Southampton plane emergency landing

The Embraer E175 was able to land safely, the airline said.

An aircraft full of passengers bound for Spain was forced to turn around when a bird damaged one of its engines.

The Flybe flight from Southampton Airport to Alicante had just taken off at 10:00 GMT when it suffered a bird strike.

The pilot made an emergency landing shortly after 10:30.

An airport spokeswoman said the engine continued to function while the plane returned and none of the 79 passengers or four-person crew were injured.

A Flybe spokeswoman said: "The aircraft landed safely without further incident at Southampton Airport and, as is common practice in such situations, the airport put its emergency vehicles on standby as a precautionary measure.

"All passengers disembarked as normal when the aircraft arrived on stand.

"Flybe is re-accommodating passengers on an alternate aircraft.

"The safety of its passengers and crew is the airline's number one priority and Flybe apologises to its passengers for the inconvenience experienced as a result of this incident."