A China Eastern plane bound for Shanghai with 94 passengers aboard was forced into an emergency landing yesterday afternoon, 7 minutes after taking off from the Nanchang Changbei International Airport. The plane had collided with a flying bird, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

No casualties were reported.

Flight MU5568 took off at 1:46 PM but reported abnormal readings accompanied by irregular noises and jet shaking one minute later when it rose to about 100 meters, the same report said.

The jet made an emergency landing at the Changbei airport at 1.52 PM. The emergency forced China Eastern flight MU2765 from Guiyang to Nanchang to circle in the sky, and land 10 minutes behind schedule.

Over 50 of the 94 passengers aboard took the following flight MU5566 to Shanghai.  The rest boarded another plane China Eastern had dispatched from Shanghai for the emergency.

An initial check indicates that the Shanghai-bound jet had problems with an engine vane which was deformed probably due to being hit by a flying bird.  The plane is being repaired and an investigation is still going on.

(Shanghai Daily July 6, 2005)