Delta A319 at Nashville on Dec 6th 2013, bird strike

A Delta Airlines Airbus A319-100, charter flight DL-8948 from Nashville,TN to Washington Dulles,DC (USA) with the Predators NHL team, 51 people on board, departed Nashville's runway 02R when the crew stopped the climb at 3000 feet reporting they took a couple of birds, both engines were running okay but they wanted to make sure and return to Nashville. The crew requested runway 02R which was not available however due to the bird strike and pending runway inspection. The aircraft landed safely on runway 02C about 20 minutes after departure.

A player tweeted: "Our plane got hungry kids and it ate a hawk now the hawk is in birdie heaven our flight is delayed."

A replacement Airbus A319-100 registration N352NB reached Washington with a delay of 4.5 hours.