Two United Airlines flights turn back after striking birds

A pair of United Airlines flights were forced to turn back to Houston on Tuesday after slamming into a flock of birds.

The two flights — United Airlines Flight 2086 to Las Vegas and Flight 847 bound for Santiago, Chile — needed to reverse course back to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Texas at around 10 p.m. when both planes struck a pack of birds, according to KHOU 11.

Air traffic audio from the Chile flight captured the moment the crew heard a “loud pop” and knew something was wrong.

“When we leveled off at 4,000 feet, we heard a loud pop and you could feel something,” one of the pilots said. “All three pilots that felt subsequent strike are unsure if it was a bird, uh, we didn’t see it.”

The pilot then speculated about what the plane had just struck.

“It could be a bird… It could be a drone… We don’t know but all we know is we hit something,” he said.

The startled aviators then turned the plane back for an emergency landing at the Bush Airport.

Data from the Vegas flight showed that the plane was up in the air for about 30 minutes before it turned back for its own emergency landing.

Video from the airport shows firefighters responding to one of the flights. It’s not uncommon for a plane engine that sucks up birds to burst into flames. The engine, however, appeared to be fine.

No injuries were reported in the two cases. Both planes were inspected and cleared for take-off by Wednesday.

United Airlines did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

The incident comes just days after an American Airlines Boeing 737 engine caught fire after hitting a flock of geese just 25 minutes after it took off from Ohio’s John Glenn International Airport.  

A dramatic video shows the moment the Phoenix-bound flight made a U-Turn for an emergency landing at the Columbus airport as flames and smoke are seen coming from the right engine.

Fortunately, the plane made it to the ground safely, and no injuries were reported.