JetBlue passenger Desiree Salter posted a video of herself refueling the plane on social media on Feb. 15, and this video has gone viral following recent plane incidents. Credit: @desireesalter /TMX
A JetBlue flight was forced to turn back shortly after takeoff Tuesday after it reportedly struck a coyote on the runway at an airport in Rhode Island.
JetBlue Flight 1129, which was headed to New York’s JFK Airport, struck the animal as it took off from TF Green Airport on Tuesday morning, according to WPRI-TV. Although the plane initially continued its climb, it returned to Rhode Island about 15 minutes later.
Erin Drozda, a passenger on the plane, said she heard an “awful sound” as it took off.
“We were in the air for 10 to 15 minutes, and suddenly the captain came and said, ‘Here’s the flight crew. If anyone hears that noise, we hit the fox, now we’re on our way back to Providence,'” he told the station.
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A JetBlue flight returned to Rhode Island Airport after a reported wildlife strike during takeoff on March 24. (Photos by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC/Getty Images)
“We thought it was a joke at first,” he added. “You never heard that.”
Drozda said emergency services were waiting on the runway when the plane returned.
He said the crew checked the nose of the plane for leaks before asking the passengers to turn back for a full inspection.
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JetBlue flights at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in the Queens borough of New York on Dec. 26, 2025. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“We got off the plane and sat there for about half an hour or so, and then they told us everything was fine, and we were able to get back on the plane,” he told the station.
According to FlightAware, the flight left Rhode Island at around 6:16 a.m. and returned to TF Green at 6:40 a.m. It took off again after 8:30 a.m. and landed at JFK at 9:06 a.m.
Drozda said the delay caused him and his wife to miss their flight to Costa Rica, although they were able to rebook on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for TF Green Airport told CBS News that the incident did not affect other flights.
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JetBlue Flight 1129 returned to TF Green Airport about 15 minutes after takeoff after reportedly hitting a coyote on the runway. (Photos by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
JetBlue said the flight was returned “out of an abundance of caution” after reports that the landing gear had come into contact with wildlife during takeoff. The airline added that the plane landed safely and no problems or injuries were reported.
FOX Business contacted JetBlue and TF Green Airport for more information.
