National Guard chief’s plane strikes birds and lands safely at Chicago’s Midway Airport: Source – NBC Chicago

The senior National Guard officer was on board a military plane Monday when he struck several birds on takeoff from Chicago’s Midway Airport, causing the plane to return to the airport.

A source told NBC 5 political reporter Mary Ann Ahern that Gen. Daniel Hokanson, who is the National Guard bureau chief within the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was on the plane when the collision happened on Monday afternoon.

A C-37 military plane was taking off from Midway when it hit a flock of birds, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson.

A public affairs officer from the 89th Airlift Wing said the plane returned to the airport “out of an abundance of caution”.

An investigation is ongoing and all members on board the aircraft are unharmed, according to the spokesperson.

Hokanson will take another flight from Chicago this week, a source told NBC 5.

The general was nominated to rise to his rank in May 2020. He was confirmed by the Senate later that year and took office in August.