Airbreathing jet engine In another incident in 1995, a Dassault Falcon 20 crashed at a Paris airport during an emergency landing attempt after ingesting lapwings into an engine, which caused an engine failure and a fire in the airplane fuselage; all 10 people on board were killed. In 2009, an Airbus A320 aircraft, US Airways Flight 1549, ingested one bird into each engine. The plane ditched in the Hudson River after taking off from LaGuardia International Airport in New York City. There were no fatalities. Jet engines have to be designed to withstand the ingestion of birds of a specified weight and number
South African Airways from Boeing, the rest from other parties. The 737s were to be deployed on short-haul routes, replacing Airbus A300s and A320s. The 737 order was followed by an Airbus order in 2002. Under CEO Andre Viljoen, South African Airways requested Airbus to overhaul its fleet at a cost of US$3.5 billion in March 2002, taking advantage of a slump in the order books of both Boeing and Airbus. The airline industry was still staggering after the September 11 attacks in the USA, which led to new aircraft orders either being deferred, or cancelled altogether. SAA was in a buyers' market