A United Airlines flight struck a coyote while taking off from Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Sunday.
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A Boeing 737 MAX 9, en route to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, was taking off around 10:45 a.m. when the incident occurred. The flight was carrying 167 passengers and six crew members.
The plane’s landing gear struck the wild animal, which had made its way onto the runway, United confirmed to People. It was initially reported as a bird strike.
The plane then “safely returned to Chicago O’Hare International Airport to examine the aircraft,” the airline said in a statement. Passengers were transferred to a later flight.
A report by the Federal Aviation Administration found that, between 1990-2022, there 824 reported coyote strikes by civil aircraft. 66 of those incidents caused damage, making the animal the most dangerous carnivore to planes, with skunks a close second.
Shockingly, this isn’t the first coyote-related viral story out of Chicago this week.
On Monday morning, customers at an Aldi in the Humboldt Park neighborhood looked on in shock as officer pulled a coyote from the shelves of the refrigerated section.
According to The Chicago Tribune, the gray coyote darted around the store before it was safely captured by animal control around 10 a.m.
“The animal is currently at our facility awaiting transfer to our wildlife rehabilitation partner, Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation,” Chicago Animal Control and Care explained to NBC Chicago.
“The coyote appears uninjured, but Flint Creek will conduct an assessment to confirm its health before releasing it back into the wild if deemed appropriate,” they added.