Air India B773 at Newark on Jul 13th 2014, bird strike

An Air India Boeing 777-300, registration VT-ALR performing flight AI-144 from Newark,NJ (USA) to Mumbai (India) with 292 passengers and 21 crew, was climbing out of Newark's runway 22R when the crew of another aircraft reported seeing flames and smoke out of the #1 engine (GE90, left hand). In the meantime the crew of the Boeing 777, already on departure frequency, stopped the climb at 2000 feet reporting the left hand engine had been shut down and returned to Newark for a safe landing on runway 22R about 22 minutes after departure.

The airport reported the aircraft came to a stop on an adjacent taxiway with multiple tyres blown. There had been no bird strike.

The airline reported the left hand engine was shut down as result of a bird strike, the passengers were taken to hotels and are being rebooked onto other flights.