Bird-hit plane’s nose and engine damaged

A Paris-bound Iberia flight was forced to make an emergency landing after returning to Madrid Barajas Airport following a bird hit it, damaging its nose and engine on Sunday. No injury was reported.

Chaos unfolded as smoke filled the Airbus A321’s cabin, prompting flyers to don oxy­gen masks and cling to each other in fear. The flight, Iberia’s newest and fourth A321XLR, had been delivered over a month ago. 

Iberia told AeroTime, an aviation news outlet, flight IB579 struck “a large bird on the front section of the aircraft and one of its engines” shortly after departure. The impact was so strong that  the aircraft’s nose cone was shattered triggered smoke in the cabin. Videos captured the tense moments of the smoke-filled cabin, with the sound of a crying baby and panicked people gripping oxygen masks.