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Swoop flight to Edmonton makes emergency landing at Abbotsford airport

Click to play video: 'Bird strike forces emergency landing in Abbotsford'
Bird strike forces emergency landing in Abbotsford
WATCH: Bird strike forces emergency landing in Abbotsford – Sep 10, 2019

A Swoop flight bound for Edmonton made an emergency landing in Abbotsford on Tuesday morning.

According to the airline, Flight 312 landed safely in Abbotsford after striking birds shortly after takeoff. All passengers have disembarked the Boeing 737 and are waiting in the terminal.

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Swoop said the aircraft had been removed from service, and would be inspected.

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“We are working on reaccommodation options for the 176 impacted travellers and will provide updates as available,” said the company an email.

“Safety is our number one priority and will always be at the forefront of our decision making.”

WATCH: Swoop flight makes emergency landing at Abbotsford airport

Click to play video: 'Swoop flight makes emergency landing at Abbotsford airport'
Swoop flight makes emergency landing at Abbotsford airport

Fadhi Abu-Ghanem says he was sitting in seat 30F near the back of the plane when he spotted flames and recorded it on his cellphone.

“I started yelling, ‘Fire in the right engine, fire in the right engine!’ The flight attendant came running and she’s like, ‘What’s going on?’ And I said, ‘There’s a fire in the right engine.’

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“We probably got to a couple thousand feet in the air, fire was still coming out of the engine, and the captain said we were doing an emergency landing.

“It looks like we had rocket boosters attached to the plane if you see the video.”

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