Flight Engine Erupts In Flames After Birds Strike Plane; Pilot Lands Aircraft Safely [Watch]

A plane headed to Italy managed to land safely after a huge flock of birds damaged parts of the engine when they hit it.

The Malta Air Boeing 737-800, operated by Ryanair, was flying from London to Bologna on Nov. 24.

When the flight neared the Bologna airport, a flock of birds -- believed to be herons or docks -- slammed into the plane. A video of the incident, caught from the ground, showed flames erupting from at least one engine as the plane glided onto the runway.

An image of the flight showed bird guts and carcasses all over the front windscreen, blocking the pilot’s view. Some of the birds also got stuck on the plane’s wing flaps, and a few were sucked into the right engine in the inflow. Despite the terrifying incident, the plane managed to land safely and no injuries onboard the flight was reported.

However, the plane’s right engine was significantly damaged during the strike and suffered a compressor stall, Aviation 24 reported.

The plane has been grounded in Italy, and the investigators were checking the damages to determine if it can fly again safely, according to LadBible.

Last month, another Ryanair flight scheduled to fly from Manchester, U.K., to the Canary Islands had to make an emergency landing in Liverpool after a bird strike. Passengers on the flight told Manchester Evening News they heard "two loud" bangs after the flight took off from Manchester. The plane made an emergency landing an hour later and passengers were safely evacuated by the emergency crew. No one on board suffered any injuries. Ryanair's spokesperson confirmed the bird strike in a statement. "The aircraft landed normally, and customers were transferred to a replacement aircraft...Ryanair sincerely apologised to all affected customers," the statement said, according to the Evening News.

A Spirit airline flight set to fly from Atlantic City to Fort Lauderdale in April caught on fire after a bird flew into one of the engines as it prepared to take off. The strike caused significant damage to the plane.