Airline officials: It was a bird strike, not a maintenance issue

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. —Airline officials say upon further investigation, a plane's windshield was cracked as a result of a bird strike and not a maintenance issue as reported earlier Friday.

On Thursday afternoon, United Airlines flight 4331 departed Burlington International Airport on its way to Washington Dulles International Airport.

"We want to make sure that everybody is safe first and that goes all the way up to the FAA and back down to the ground here," said Nic Long, of the Burlington International Airport. "Really it's a coordination of everybody trying to get that plane on the ground first and then continuing normal operations afterwards."

ExpressJet, which operated the flight, says that based on crew interviews and completion of maintenance inspection it was in fact a bird strike that caused the damage.

At the time of the incident, the plane was carrying 52 people. The plane was able to land safely at BTV.

- Story and photos: http://www.wptz.com

Expressjet Embraer ERJ-145, N13958, Flight EV-4331, UA-4331