An Iberia flight was forced to return to Madrid after colliding with a bird shortly after taking off.

The plan had departed from the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport en route to Paris-Orly on Sunday, August 3, when the aircraft encountered a bird strike, prompting an emergency return with 182 passengers onboard.

Tracking data shows that flight IB579 took off from the airport at 4:42 pm.

Just minutes into its initial ascent, at an altitude of roughly 6,500ft, the Airbus A320 reportedly struck what is believed to have been a vulture. The impact triggered onboard alarms, prompting passengers to don oxygen masks and sparking brief panic inside the cabin.

An incident report from the Aviation Safety Network stated: 'Iberia Airlines flight IB579, an Airbus A321-253NY (XLR), suffered a bird strike on departure from Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airport (MAD).

'The flight returned and landed safely back at MAD. The nose radome and engine 1 were damaged in the incident.'

The plane landed without further incident on runway 32L, approximately half an hour after takeoff.

Footage shows the aircraft on the tarmac, its damaged nose clearly visible from a distance. Passengers exited the plane using mobile stairs following the safe landing. No injuries were reported.

A replacement flight was later arranged, with the new aircraft departing for Paris at around 7:30 pm. Iberia has not yet stated how long the damaged Airbus will remain out of service.

Bird strikes can cause serious damage to aircraft engines, potentially triggering fires and affecting an aircraft's ability to land safely.

Last year, a Jeju Air plane crash in South Korea became the country's worst aviation disaster, killing at least 179 people onboard, with only two survivors.

Flight records show the plane departed Bangkok, Thailand, at 2:29 am before attempting to land at 8:59 am on December 29 in the Jeonnam region of South Korea.

Lee Jeong-hyun, the chief of the Muan Fire Department, stated that a bird strike or adverse weather conditions could have contributed to the crash.