Bridget Reed Morawski
WMAL

A Southwest Airlines plane bound for Providence, RI. returned to Baltimore/Washington International Airport on Monday morning after pilots suspected that the plane had been hit by birds.

Flight 484 was scheduled to depart BWI at 7:12am and arrive in Providence, RI., at approximately 7:47am. Shortly after departure, the pilots made the decision to return to BWI due to a suspected bird strike.

Emergency vehicles could be seen surrounding flight 484 at the gate after it had safely returned to Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

Southwest has released a statement noting that the plane was in the process of being swapped out for a new aircraft so that the flight could continue on toward Providence T.F. Green Airport (PVD) in Rhode Island. It has returned to the gate for inspections.

While bird strikes don’t occur every day, they aren’t uncommon. According to the Aviation Safety Network, birds were the cause of 51 commercial accidents between 1955 and 2007.