Created Thursday, Jan 29th 2026 19:07Z, last updated Wednesday, Feb 25th 2026 22:21Z
An Amazon Prime Air Airbus A330-300, registration N5827K performing flight
AS-2616 from Cincinnati,KY to Houston Intercontinental,TX (USA) with 2 crew, was departing Covington's runway 27 when the left hand engine (Trent 772) ingested a number of birds. The aircraft stopped the climb at 3000 feet, the crew donned their oxygen masks reporting smoke in the cockpit, and returned to Cincinnati for a safe landing on runway 36R about 10 minutes after departure. After landing the crew advised they needed a ladder to the 1R door as they had an engine fire on the left hand side and wanted the #1 engine checked for fire.
The FAA reported: "AIRCRAFT STRUCK A BIRD ON TAKEOFF RESULTING IN A LEFT ENGINE FIRE AND RETURNED TO AIRPORT, COVINGTON, KY."
On Feb 6th 2026 the NTSB reported the occurrence was rated an accident and is being investigated. The aircraft was struck by multiple birds after takeoff from runway 27 resulting in an ECAM indication and subsequent engine failure. The aircraft suffered substantial damage.
The aircraft was still on the ground in Cincinnati about 23 hours after landing back.
On Feb 25th 2026 the NTSB released their preliminary report summarizing the sequence of events:
According to the flight crew, after takeoff from runway 27, while climbing through 900-1,000 ft, the captain observed a flock of geese flying from right to left. The captain, who was the pilot monitoring, called out “birds” and then the flight crew felt multiple birds impact the left and right side of the airplane. At that time, the flight crew observed the electronic centralized aircraft monitor (ECAM) warning and a master caution indication. The flight crew observed the ENG 1 FAULT indication on the ECAM, immediately followed by ENG 1 FAIL. The flight crew initiated the ECAM procedures for the No. 1 (left) engine failure. The captain alerted air traffic control (ATC) of the birdstrike, declared an emergency, and requested a return to CVG.
ATC provided vectors for landing on runway 36R. During the air return, the flight crew observed smoke entering the cockpit and subsequently a MD (main deck) SMOKE ECAM message. The flight crew donned their oxygen masks and began to run the quick reference handbook (QRH) procedure for the MD SMOKE indication. After configuring the airplane for landing, the flight crew determined the smoke had dissipated and removed their oxygen masks for the remainder of the approach and landing.
After landing, the first officer, who was the pilot flying, stopped the airplane on the runway and airport rescue and firefighting (ARFF) personnel inspected the airplane. The flight crew completed the left engine failure ECAM procedures and discharged fire extinguishing agent.
After determining that there was no fire on the airplane, ground personnel towed the airplane to the ramp. Airport operations personnel stated that they recovered the remains of eight Canada geese after the event.
A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed bird remnants on the left main landing gear door and strut, the left-wing inboard flap, the No. 2 (right) engine pylon, the right-wing leading-edge slat and slat track. Additionally, both engines exhibited evidence of bird ingestion.
Damage and bird remnants were observed on the left engine nacelle (inside and outside of the inlet) and fan blades. The left engine fan had restricted rotation and was visibly misaligned.
The right engine had damage to the inlet cowl acoustic liner and bird remnants were found on the spinner and the exhaust nozzle. The right engine fan rotated freely.
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