Mike Pence: US Vice President's plane collides with a bird

Air Force Two is inspected after an apparent bird strike on Tuesday, September 22.

Washington (CNN) -

Air Force Two, the plane on which US Vice President Mike Pence regularly travels, landed safely at a New Hampshire airport Tuesday after colliding with a bird in flight, it confirmed to CNN. a spokesperson for the vice president.

The plane was carrying Mike Pence back to Washington after his speech at a Trump campaign rally in Gilford, New Hampshire, when he collided with the bird.

The pilots decided to return to the airport from where the plane had just taken off as a precaution, said Devin O'Malley, a spokesman for Pence.

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After landing, Mike Pence and his staff used a cargo plane to return to Washington, according to CNN's travel team.

This is not the first aircraft-related incident that Pence has faced in the field.

In October 2016, the field plane carrying him ran off the runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

"We're fine," he told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day" during a telephone interview at the time.

"It was about 10 seconds of uncertainty last night, but we are very grateful to the pilots and to the first responders on the scene and (that) they all got out of the plane safely."

None of the 48 people on board were injured in the 2016 incident.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.

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