Bird strikes are serious. A flock of birds brought down an E-3 Sentry in Alaska in the late ‘80s as well...it flew through them on takeoff and lost both engines on one side, and was unable to make the turn back to the airport. It doesn’t take but one or two birds into a turbine to destroy it. See this video from Manchester a couple of years ago and watch what just two birds do to the Rolls-Royce engine on a Thomsonfly Boeing 757:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KhZwsYtNDE
}:-)4
Wow! They got a barge towing it now!
Give them machinists about ten days with it, and it’ll be back in the air!