On Feb 1st, 2026, a UPS United Parcel Service Boeing 747-8 freighter, registration N625UP, operating flight 5X-4 from Cologne (Germany) to Hong Kong (China), was forced to return to its departure airport shortly after takeoff following a serious bird strike.
The aircraft had departed Cologne’s runway 13L and was climbing through about 5,000 feet when engine number 2, the inboard left GEnx engine, ingested a number of birds. The crew immediately stopped the climb, carried out the appropriate procedures, and shut the affected engine down.
With the situation under control, the crew elected to return to Cologne, where the large freighter landed safely back on runway 13L approximately 20 minutes after departure. No injuries were reported, and the landing was completed without further complications.
Following the precautionary return, the aircraft remained grounded for inspection. As of around 22 hours after landing, the Boeing 747-8 was still on the ground in Cologne, undergoing checks and maintenance related to the bird ingestion event.
The incident once again highlights the vulnerability of aircraft engines to wildlife strikes during the departure phase, and the effectiveness of established procedures that allow crews to manage such events safely, even on the world’s largest commercial aircraft.
