Narrative:

During take off roll there were numerous birds over the departure end of the runway. At vr; I slowed my rotation rate in the hopes of staying below the birds. Immediately after lifting off; I saw a large bird off my left side. We felt the bird strike the aircraft and immediately felt a surge and a strong vibration coming from the number one engine. Raising the gear; we continued straight ahead. At 400 ft we advised tower of a bird strike and the need to return to the airport. All engine parameters on the number one engine were normal. We leveled at 2;000 ft performing standard post departure clean up and power reductions. Setting a speed of 210 KTS; we entered downwind with tower clearing us to land. My first officer briefed the flight attendants and the passengers. We landed at approximately 151;000 pounds. The landing was smooth and without further incident. I chose not to use reverse on the number one engine and shut down the engine immediately after touchdown. Airport authorities said the bird appeared to be a huron. Markings suggest the bird struck the number one engine nacelle at the five o'clock position. There was no damage to the nacelle; but significant damage to one fan blade and damage to two additional blades. After saying goodbye to the passengers; I debriefed the flight attendants. My first officer and I then debriefed; reviewing our own performance deciding it would not have hurt to declare an emergency and have equipment standing by.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reports hitting a large bird just after lift off causing initial engine vibration. The crew elects to return to the departure airport.

Narrative: During take off roll there were numerous birds over the departure end of the runway. At Vr; I slowed my rotation rate in the hopes of staying below the birds. Immediately after lifting off; I saw a large bird off my left side. We felt the bird strike the aircraft and immediately felt a surge and a strong vibration coming from the number one engine. Raising the gear; we continued straight ahead. At 400 FT we advised Tower of a bird strike and the need to return to the airport. All engine parameters on the number one engine were normal. We leveled at 2;000 FT performing standard post departure clean up and power reductions. Setting a speed of 210 KTS; we entered downwind with Tower clearing us to land. My First Officer briefed the flight attendants and the passengers. We landed at approximately 151;000 LBS. The landing was smooth and without further incident. I chose not to use reverse on the number one engine and shut down the engine immediately after touchdown. Airport authorities said the bird appeared to be a Huron. Markings suggest the bird struck the number one engine nacelle at the five o'clock position. There was no damage to the nacelle; but significant damage to one fan blade and damage to two additional blades. After saying goodbye to the passengers; I debriefed the flight attendants. My First Officer and I then debriefed; reviewing our own performance deciding it would not have hurt to declare an emergency and have equipment standing by.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.