Bird strike sends plane carrying 132 back

An American Airlines jetliner bound for St. Louis has returned to Los Angeles International Airport because of a bird strike.

Airline spokesman Andrew Christie says the Airbus A319 with 132 people on board landed safely at 6.40am Thursday and taxied to a gate.

Flight 1258 took off at 6.24 am, and the pilot reported the bird strike minutes later. Christie says the pilot decided to return to LAX out of an abundance of caution.

The aircraft was taken out of service for maintenance.

Passengers were placed on other flights.