Narrative:

After takeoff; for weather ATC turned us to 160 heading; passing approximately 5;000 ft we hit a bird. It struck the first officer's window with great force and made a noise loud enough to be heard in the coach cabin. The wiper appeared damaged with a large amount of bird carcass on the window; blood and guts. Because of the force of the strike and location and vector of the bird I elected to return to [departure airport] for inspection. We declared an emergency; asked for a return; briefed the flight attendants and passengers and were vectored for an approach. I elected to land overweight. We landed at approximately 133;000 pounds; smooth touchdown and long roll to slow down. [We] stopped after clearing the runway for inspection by fire department and temperature check with a forward looking infrared radiometer (flir) of the gear. All okay and then proceeded to the gate. Recorded all the above in the logbook. We did not see the bird until just a split second prior to impact; no time for an evasive maneuver.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD-82 Captain reported loud; strong bird strike shortly after takeoff. Wiper appeared damaged; so an emergency was declared and the flight returned to departure airport for an overweight landing.

Narrative: After takeoff; for weather ATC turned us to 160 heading; passing approximately 5;000 FT we hit a bird. It struck the First Officer's window with great force and made a noise loud enough to be heard in the coach cabin. The wiper appeared damaged with a large amount of bird carcass on the window; blood and guts. Because of the force of the strike and location and vector of the bird I elected to return to [departure airport] for inspection. We declared an emergency; asked for a return; briefed the flight attendants and passengers and were vectored for an approach. I elected to land overweight. We landed at approximately 133;000 LBS; smooth touchdown and long roll to slow down. [We] stopped after clearing the runway for inspection by Fire Department and temperature check with a Forward Looking Infrared Radiometer (FLIR) of the gear. All okay and then proceeded to the gate. Recorded all the above in the logbook. We did not see the bird until just a split second prior to impact; no time for an evasive maneuver.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.