A collision between a bird and an airplane caused chaos for passengers of Eastern China Airlines over the weekend.

Airplane MU5438 was hit in the right engine by a bird as it descended to an altitude of 91.5 meters to land at Huanghua Airport in south China's Hunan Province at 10.10 p.m. on Saturday. None of the 95 passengers on board were injured.

The plane was sent to Shanghai for maintenance while its flight to Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province was cancelled.

The airport and airline arranged accommodation for the passengers, but 53 chose to stay in the waiting room of the airport overnight. The frustrated passengers kicked up a fuss on Sunday morning when informed their replacement flight had been cancelled due to a plane shortage. Nearly 60 flights were delayed. After negotiation, they received compensation of 300 yuan (US$37.5) each.

The plane, which was struck by the bird, headed for Shanghai at 11:37 p.m. on Sunday. By Monday, all passengers had left by boarding other flights.

"Collisions with birds causes over 26 percent of plane accidents in China," said airport manager Tan Yan.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2006)