March 1 (Reuters) - A FedEx Boeing 767 cargo

plane struck a bird while departing Newark Airport, New Jersey,

on Saturday and made an emergency landing with one engine on

fire.

FedEx Flight 3609, which was headed to Indianapolis, landed

safely nine minutes after takeoff at 7:58 a.m. The Federal

Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board

will investigate.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the strike caused

one of the plane's engines to burst into flames, forcing the

plane to quickly land.

"Video from the incident shows the quick-thinking pilots

returning the plane to land safely while the engine is on fire,"

Duffy said.

FedEx ( FDX ) did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

Duffy cited a U.S. Department of Transportation report

that said there were over 19,000 bird strikes in 2023, up 14%

over 2022. The report found 65% of bird strikes occur during

takeoff or landing and around 5% of strikes result in damage to

an aircraft.