Biden's Plane Lands Safely After Being Struck by Birds in California

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (NewsCore) -- A plane carrying Vice President Joe Biden was struck by birds shortly before landing in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Thursday night and remained grounded Friday.

"Air Force 2 encountered a bird strike last night when landing in Santa Barbara," a spokesperson from the VP's office told FOX News Channel. "The Vice President left Santa Barbara [Friday] afternoon as scheduled, aboard an alternate US Air Force aircraft."

Lt. Gregg Johnson, a spokesman from the US Air Force 89th Airlift Wing, told KEYT-TV that the birds struck the plane between 10:00pm and 10:30pm local time Thursday.

"The aircraft, the vice president and the crew were safe at all times, no one was in danger," Johnson told the station.

"When there is a bird strike our safety procedure is to land safely as quickly as possible to get an assessment of what happened and review the extent of damage if there is damage."

Biden had flown to the Santa Barbara area to attend a fundraiser hosted by Nancy Koppelman, a member of President Barach Obama's National Finance Committee, KEYT reported.

The extent of damage to the plane was not reported. Biden returned to the East Coast Friday evening.