727 Returns to LAX After Engine Stalls

An Arizona-bound Delta Air Lines Boeing 727 returned to Los Angeles International Airport after one of the jetliner’s three engines stalled briefly, the airline said Tuesday. The jetliner landed safely at 6:46 p.m. Sunday and there were no injuries.

The pilot of Delta Flight 1148, which was en route to Tucson, initially thought a bird had been sucked into the No. 1 engine, the Federal Aviation Administration said. “It had a stall-like effect, like a spitting effect, just after takeoff,” said Frances Conner, a Delta spokeswoman in Atlanta. “It was a compressor stall on the No. 1 engine. They thought it was a bird.”

Conner refused to say how many people were aboard the jetliner. The passengers returned to the terminal, where they were directed to other planes, she said.