US Vice-President Joe Biden's Air Force Two plane suffered a bird strike as it came into land in California on Thursday night and had to be grounded, a US official said.
The plane, a Boeing C-32 modeled on the 757, in blue and white air force livery, was hit by birds as it came into land in Santa Barbara, California, after a flight from Los Angeles where Biden attended a campaign event.
The pilot brought the aircraft onto the runway safely but the plane was not fit to bring the vice president back to Washington on Friday so an alternative aircraft was used, the official said.
Local news crews showed pictures of one of Air Force Two's engines being worked on at the airport in Santa Barbara.
Biden's plane was involved in another mishap in August 2010, when it flipped over a small light aircraft while it was taking off from West Hampton airport in New York state.