American Airlines plane forced to return to Ohio airport after possible bird strike, FAA says

• An American Airlines plane bound for Arizona returned to John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
• The airport confirmed the incident and said the plane experienced mechanical issues.

An American Airlines plane had to return to an airport in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday morning because of mechanical issues.

The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, told Insider the plane returned to the airport safely after the crew reported a possible bird strike.

The flight, bound for Phoenix, Arizona, took off at 7.43 a.m. from John Glenn Columbus International Airport before returning at 8.22 a.m., according to flight-tracking site, FlightAware.

The airport confirmed the incident on its Twitter account, which it attributed to mechanical issues. Earlier reports attributed the plane's return to an engine fire.

"The aircraft landed safely and the airport is open and operational," the airport tweeted on Sunday.

The FAA is investigating the incident, per CNN. American Airlines told the outlet that flight 1958 "landed normally and taxied safely to the gate under its own power."

"The aircraft was taken out of service for maintenance and our team is working to get customers back on their way to Phoenix," the carrier added.

The flight departed again at 3.30 p.m. and landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at 4.45 p.m., according to FlightAware.

American Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment that were sent outside regular business hours.

In 2021, bird strikes cost US civil aviation industry $328 million in losses and nearly 140,000 hours of downtime, according to an FAA report published in summer 2022.