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RAF chopper makes emergency landing after bird strike

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A British Royal Air Force helicopter was forced into an emergency landing in Scotland after a bird strike, military officials said.

The pilots of the Sea King helicopter said they struck a goose about 9:15 p.m. Saturday during a training exercise and opted to make an emergency landing in Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands.

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The chopper was downed for about 16 hours while safety inspections were conducted, The Scotsman reported.

Eventually the aircraft was cleared to fly.

"It was a precaution the crew quite rightly took," squadron leader David Webster said. "If you ingest part of the bird into the engine, the instrumentation can get damaged so you land straight away and get the engineers to check it. ... There was no damage to the aircraft. The bird unfortunately came off worst."

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