Passenger jet's nose cone damaged during flight

Northwest investigating; retired pilot says bird may have struck plane

Video

It's a bird, it's a plane...it's a bird hitting a plane?
July 7: Northwest Airlines did not say what caused the visible damage to the nose cone of its Boeing 757 during a flight from Detroit to Tampa, although airport officials said the plane hit a bird. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

Nightly News

updated 12:48 a.m. ET July 8, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS - Northwest Airlines says it's investigating after the nose cone on one of its planes was damaged during flight.

The plane had been scheduled to fly to Minneapolis from Tampa, Florida. But that flight was delayed after the plane was damaged sometime during a flight between Detroit and Tampa.

Retired Northwest pilot Richard Duxbury says the plane was likely hit by something, possibly a bird. He says bird strikes can be a significant safety issue.

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The airline hasn't confirmed that a bird hit the plane. In a statement, Northwest says none of the passengers or crew members were hurt in the incident.

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