While the concept of an aircraft suffering a bird strike is nothing new, here’s a strange variation of that, as reported by The Aviation Herald.
Continue reading: United 737 Suffers Engine Failure & Fire Due To… Rabbit Strike?!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Dear Lucky,
I wanted to thank you for your recent article about the unusual rabbit strike incident involving a United Airlines flight. It was a fascinating and well-written piece—both informative and unexpectedly entertaining. It’s always interesting to read about these rare aviation occurrences, and you covered it with just the right balance of detail and tone.
I’d also like to kindly suggest a potential follow-up story or feature. With the recent inaugural flight of Global Airlines from Glasgow to New York JFK, there’s a lot of excitement and curiosity surrounding this new entrant in the aviation industry. A full article and review covering the flight experience, onboard service, aircraft details, and passenger feedback would be a fantastic read.
Thank you again for your great work, and I hope you'll consider this idea for a future piece.
Warm regards,
AI
And just realize the flight path looks like giving the middle finger. Can't unsee that.
Yeah, I can definitely see the scenario where the rabbit was trying to cross the runway and got sucked into the engine. Sucks for the rabbit, and for the engine. They're a bit sturdier than the birds that plane engines are used to ingesting...
Thank you for feeling bad for the rabbit, @Lucky
I know some might find it hilarious, but I really thank you.
The Monty Python rabbit strikes again! Bring forth the holy hand grenade of Antioch!
There are videos of alligators on the runway at MCO. Rabbit bad, alligator worse.
LOL too bad it's not the Rabbit Strike trifecta.
If this didn't happen in Denver but in Chicago.
Imagine an O'Hare Rabbit Stike.
Can't make this stuff up even on April Fools.
“First and foremost I feel sorry for the rabbit” is an odd thing to say; surely the fact that no passengers were hurt and the plane landed safety would be the most inportant sentiment??
The engines of the 737 hang very low, close to the ground. That‘s the reason why most accidents where people get sucked into an aircraft engine involve 737 planes. The rabbit probably was crossing the runway when it was sucked in.
I used to work in airport operations at an airport in Texas. We had millions of jackrabbits and they can get BIG. No matter how many we trapped and shot there were always more being born. In some airports they are worse than birds.
Back in the 90s, I was shocked when landing in Charles de Gaulle repeatedly to see thousands of rabbits diving off the runways and into holes around the grassy surrounding areas. Makes perfect sense when you consider that there are no predators out there. Happen to be a big Rabbit fan, so it tickled me pink to land in Paris and be welcomed by thousands of bunnies!
Hopefully it was not the Easter Bunny otherwise there will be a bunch of bummed out kids next Sunday morning.
Never understood the need for a lot of mindless screaming. Alerting the tribe that there's danger! Ok, you've done that, now close your mouth.
An engine is on fire, and you don't know what to do without consulting a checklist. Are there separate checklists for bird strikes and rabbit strikes?
Rabbits and aviation don’t seem to mix well.
During my aviation career, I saw many of these furry critters near runways and taxiways in Paris Charles Le Gaulle (CDG) airport.
On a separate occasion, Airbus had been affected by a strike in the early 1990s and decided to store curving pneumatics ducts in the open in Toulouse. For rabbits they became very popular hiding places and when the ducts were ultimately installed some still had rabbits inside.
The removal took some additional time on these already delayed aircraft.
There is neither.
But there are checklists for a) engine failure (flame out), b) severe damage or fire, and c) engine surge or stall.
Going by the image and video, it seems that this was a case of engine surge/stall which can happen as a consequence of the disruption of the airflow through the engine cause by bird (or dog or rabbit) strikes. No matter how spectacular it looks and sounds, it is not an engine fire, it is more like a car engine backfiring.
I am glad that crews follow electronic or paper checklists, there has been more harm done improvising than following published procedures and manufacturers warn against unnecessary improvising.
Answer me this, are rabbit feet meant to be Lucky ?
Well this rabbit had four of them, and look were it got them.