'Bird strike' causes jaw-dropping damage to passenger plane

How big was the bird? Photo / Supplied

A US passenger jet has been forced to divert and land after it reported a problem with its navigation equipment, with photos revealing the horrifying scale of the damage.

The Delta Airlines A319 was carrying 43 passengers between Palm Beach, Florida, and New York's LaGuardia airport on Monday night (US time) when the navigation issue forced it to land a JFK airport instead.

When the plane landed, the scale of the damage became clear with photos showing a massive indentation on the plane's nose cone.

INCIDENT Delta #DL1076 A319 made an emergency at JFK after it sustained damage to its nosecone https://t.co/KqSPpH9XgG

— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) July 7, 2020

Damage from intense hail was initially suspected as the cause of the damage.

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DAMAGED / Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 (N342NB) sustained damage to its nose cone when flying through intense hail on descent to LaGuardia airport. Flight #DL1076 diverted safely to JFK airport. #delta #hailstorm #jfkairport #airbus #a319 #airbusa319 via https://6abc.com/emergency-landing-delta-laguardia-jfk/6303690/

A post shared by Aviation Skippers (@aviation_skippers) on Jul 7, 2020 at 7:18am PDT

Delta later announced that the damage was caused when the plane hit a bird.

"Delta flight 1076 operating from West Palm Beach to New York-LaGuardia diverted to New York-JFK after encountering a bird," Delta said in a statement.

"The flight landed safely and without incident, and maintenance is evaluating the aircraft."