A Moscow-bound flight carrying 204 people was forced to make an emergency landing at the JFK airport here after blowing one of its two engines during takeoff.
The boeing 767 delta flight with 193 passengers and 11 crew aboard lost the engine just after takeoff at 4:25 pm local time last evening, according to New York Post.
Pilots believe the incident was caused by a bird strike, it said, adding no one was injured.
The plane had to circle the airport for a harrowing 90 minutes to burn and dump enough fuel — about 60,000 pounds — to land, the report quoted authorities as saying.
A total of 160 firefighters were on emergency standby as the jet finally touched down, screeching to a halt — melting one of its tyres -- just before 6 pm, it said.
The passengers were reloaded onto another plane for Moscow about two hours later.
This was the second dramatic emergency landing for delta at JFK in two months.
On September 20, when a busted landing gear sparked flames, delta capt Jack conroyd was able to safely land his plane. None of the 60 passengers aboard that plane was injured.