A Fiji Airways flight on Thursday, October 9, ended up circling the skies of Mid Canterbury after the Boeing 737-800 experienced a bird strike on departure. Fiji Airways flight 450 had departed from Christchurch Airport for the nearly four-hour journey to Nadi Airport , Fiji, when the 737-800 hit a flock of birds on departure, forcing the airplane to circle the airport for two hours to burn fuel before declaring an emergency landing.

The 170 passengers and six crew onboard landed back in Christchurch safely and were met by emergency services on landing. The aircraft remained on the airport apron overnight, with a dent in its nose and markings of bird blood on the engine.

A 'Substantial' Flock Of Birds

Looking at the data from Flightradar24, the airplane had departed from the

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