- Paris-bound Iberia flight IB-579 made an emergency landing after a bird strike on its nose cone
- The incident occurred 20 minutes after departing Madrid-Barajas Airport for Paris
- Passengers reported smoke in the cabin and used oxygen masks during the emergency
A Paris-bound Iberia flight was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff on Sunday after a bird struck the aircraft's nose.
The incident occurred 20 minutes after the flight, IB-579, departed from Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport, according to The New York Post. All passengers and crew members are safe.
A video showing a passenger holding an oxygen mask tightly as smoke appears to fill the aircraft cabin is going viral on social media.
The clip captures chaotic scenes inside the airplane with passengers recording the terrifying moments. A baby is also heard crying in the background.
One of the passengers, Giancarlo Sandoval, told The Post, "We thought that it was the turbulence that the captain was talking about, but then we started hearing a noise... and we were like, okay, something's going on."
Another clip that went viral showed the front section of the plane visibly crushed. The nose cone of the aeroplane appeared severely damaged, with a large gaping hole.
Sandoval further said, "It was like a domino effect from the back, where the smoke was coming from. People started pulling out their oxygen masks in panic."
A video quickly went viral on social media.
One person wrote, "I had no idea a bird could wipe out an aeroplane."
Another commented, "That's not a bird that was tampered with."
"Birds aren't real, drone impact," wrote the next.
Iberia issued a statement saying, "The entire flight crew, including pilots and cabin crew, acted with the utmost professionalism in managing the situation and attending to the passengers."
Last month, a Delhi-bound IndiGo flight carrying around 175 passengers had to return to Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna after one of its engines developed a technical snag due to a bird hit.
