Flight Returns To Illinois Airport After Possible Bird Strike

And here we are, yet again, with another airborne issue.

In today's edition of "Reasons I'm Driving In 2025", we have a new issue, this time at Chicago O'Hare.

This comes just a week after a scary near-miss at Chicago Midway.

The latest incident, according to a statement from United Airlines obtained by NBC Chicago, happened on Sunday.

United flight 2481, which left O'Hare bound for Syracuse, New York, had to return to the airport for a checkup not long after it took off. Why?

They're thinking it's a "possible bird strike".

That's all known about it for now, no word on injuries or anything if there were any. But 129 people (including 5 crew members) were on board and United arranged for another plane to take the passengers to Syracuse.

What Is It With Flying This Year?

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This is the second airborne snafu in Chicago within a week but it's hardly the first flying situation this year. In 2025, there have been nearly 100 aircraft accidents this year, 13 fatal ones. But these are are the ones that you've seen on the news:

January: the Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines plane collide in D.C. (resulting in 67 fatalities)
- In Philly, a medical helicopter crashed into a neighborhood, killing 7 people.
February: Delta plane flips on runway in Toronto, injuring 18 out of the 80 people on board, but there were no fatalities
- In Alaska, a Cessna carrying 10 people crashed, with no survivors
- At Chicago Midway, a near-miss incident between a Southwest plane and a business jet that the FAA contributed to the jet
March: FedEx plane makes emergency landing at Newark after bird strike prompts engine fire.

And now, this situation at Chicago O'Hare. Creepy stuff in the air so far this year.

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Gallery Credit: Connor Kenney