Bird delays flight for 28 hours

A flight bound for Shenyang, Liaoning province was grounded for 28 hours after a bird struck its fuselage, media reported on Tuesday.

The Shenzhen Airlines flight landed safely at its stopover destination of Changzhou, Jiangsu province after the pilot reported flying through a flock of birds.

Many of the around 100 passengers aboard the flight claimed they were never told what had happened until after landing in Changzhou.

"Airport employees were telling us only that there was a malfunction and it was being fixed," said a passenger surnamed Su. "They got us to a hotel and didn't say we were flying the next day until that night," he added.

The flight left Shenzhen, Guangdong province on time at 7:20 am and was to land in Shenyang at 1:15 pm.

However, the scheduled one-hour stopover turned into 28 hours when mechanics discovered a shallow 12-centimeter-long dent on the left fuselage stained with blood.

The airline compensated each passenger 500 yuan ($81) for the lengthy delay.