CHARLOTTE, NC — An American Airlines transatlantic flight bound for London, United Kingdom, encountered a minor incident shortly after departure on Tuesday evening, reporting a double bird strike during initial climb out from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT).
American Airlines Flight AA734 pushed back from the gate in Charlotte on Tuesday night, October 6, 2026, departing shortly before 11:00 PM EDT for a scheduled eight-hour-and-five-minute nonstop flight across the Atlantic to London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
During the initial climb phase following departure, the flight crew reported impacting birds on the lower section of the aircraft’s radome, the protective nose cone housing the plane’s weather radar equipment.
Following standard operational procedures, the flight crew systematically evaluated all primary systems and flight parameters. Finding all systems performing normally and no indication of structural compromise or critical instrument failure, the pilots elected to proceed with the transatlantic journey rather than returning to Charlotte or diverting.
The flight crew notified air traffic control and radioed ahead to American Airlines’ ground engineering and maintenance teams in London to ensure a precautionary visual inspection of the nose cone upon landing at Heathrow.
The aircraft operated on the route is a 27-year-old Boeing 777-223ER registered as N774AN. The twin-engine widebody jet is a workhorse of American Airlines’ long-haul international fleet.
