There were initial fears that a hare or rabbit might have been sucked into the engine.
An Aer Lingus flight was forced to turn around amidst fears that a hare may have been sucked into aircraft's engine.
Flight EI582 departed from Dublin Airport on Thursday morning at 8.15am, en route to Malaga with 287 guests on board.
However, following take-off crew informed air controllers that they had hit two rabbits or hares while departing.
One hare carcass was found during a runway inspection. The second animal was not discovered, which raised concerns over whether it had been sucked into one of the engines.
The flight continued its journey for less than an hour, but turned back while near the north coast of France.
In a statement to JOE, Aer Lingus confirmed its safe landing:
"The aircraft turned back less than one hour into the flight, due to a technical issue, and landed safely at Dublin at 9.52am. Guests disembarked normally and will be flown to Malaga this afternoon on a replacement aircraft. We apologise to our guests for this disruption to their travel plans."
