Narrative:

During the takeoff; right after rotation; a flock of small birds crossed in front of us at approximately 10 ft AGL. I was not able to avoid them and we both heard the sound of impact from birds being struck. Immediately we heard a 'buzzsaw' sound coming from the number 1 engine as well as saw the lp vibration on engine 1 jump to 1.9; which was approximately three times that of the other spools. We could feel the vibration also. In addition there was briefly a smell of burning animal flesh in the cockpit. Knowing we had ingested a bird into that engine; I instructed the first officer to tell ATC we needed to return to the field for a precautionary landing. The engine still produced normal thrust and we saw no other abnormal indications. I stayed in the pattern while the first officer notified the flight attendants of what happened and that we'd be returning to the field for a precautionary normal landing. He also informed the passengers via the PA.I setup for a downwind while the first officer ran the climb; descent; and approach checks and reloaded the FMS for the air return. We were at approximately 73;500 lbs so not overweight. During this entire time the engine still made the loud buzzsaw sound and vibrations were still felt. The odd smell didn't last more than a couple minutes.I did not declare an emergency as this was a precautionary landing and thrust was still normal. We were airborne for probably less than 10 minutes. We landed without incident and taxied to the gate. I made a PA informing the passengers that we had ingested a bird and that I wanted them to deplane as maintenance needed to inspect the plane. I called dispatch and informed them of the air return and maintenance write up. I wrote the plane up and informed maintenance control.contract maintenance showed up about thirty minutes later and did find bird remains on the interior of the nacelle; and on multiple stator vanes. Also two fan blades had been bent considerably. As a result the flight was canceled for an indefinite repair time. No remains were found elsewhere on any part of the airframe. The city ops vehicle said he found the remains of two birds on his runway inspection.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-175 flight crew reported returning to departure airport after ingesting birds into the Number 1 engine. Ground inspection revealed damage to several fan stage blades.

Narrative: During the takeoff; right after rotation; a flock of small birds crossed in front of us at approximately 10 ft AGL. I was not able to avoid them and we both heard the sound of impact from birds being struck. Immediately we heard a 'buzzsaw' sound coming from the Number 1 engine as well as saw the LP vibration on engine 1 jump to 1.9; which was approximately three times that of the other spools. We could feel the vibration also. In addition there was briefly a smell of burning animal flesh in the cockpit. Knowing we had ingested a bird into that engine; I instructed the FO to tell ATC we needed to return to the field for a precautionary landing. The engine still produced normal thrust and we saw no other abnormal indications. I stayed in the pattern while the FO notified the flight attendants of what happened and that we'd be returning to the field for a precautionary normal landing. He also informed the passengers via the PA.I setup for a downwind while the FO ran the climb; descent; and approach checks and reloaded the FMS for the air return. We were at approximately 73;500 lbs so not overweight. During this entire time the engine still made the loud buzzsaw sound and vibrations were still felt. The odd smell didn't last more than a couple minutes.I did not declare an emergency as this was a precautionary landing and thrust was still normal. We were airborne for probably less than 10 minutes. We landed without incident and taxied to the gate. I made a PA informing the passengers that we had ingested a bird and that I wanted them to deplane as maintenance needed to inspect the plane. I called Dispatch and informed them of the air return and maintenance write up. I wrote the plane up and informed Maintenance Control.Contract maintenance showed up about thirty minutes later and did find bird remains on the interior of the nacelle; and on multiple stator vanes. Also two fan blades had been bent considerably. As a result the flight was canceled for an indefinite repair time. No remains were found elsewhere on any part of the airframe. The city ops vehicle said he found the remains of two birds on his runway inspection.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.