A half dozen geese flew into the engine of a Europe-bound Pan Am jumbo jet Saturday, forcing the pilot to shut it down and return to Kennedy International Airport on the three remaining engines, authorities said. The Boeing 747 landed safely and passengers were transferred to another plane for the flight to London and Frankfurt, Pan Am spokeswoman Pamela Hanlon said. Flight 100 had taken off at 9:56 a.m. with 387 passengers and 16 crew members aboard. While it was still in its takeoff flight pattern, it ran into the flock of geese, the Federal Aviation Administration said. ``As soon as the captain was aware that there was some obstruction of the engine, he shut it down,'' Ms. Hanlon said. ``It's no big deal,'' said Stan Nowak, a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official. ``A 747 is capable of flying on one engine if it had to.'' He said the plane had to go out over the Atlantic Ocean to dump some fuel before it could return to the airport. ``With a full fuel load, a plane is too heavy to land on its gear. That's the way they are designed. They can take off heavier than they can land,'' Nowak said. The pilot had asked for fire and medical equipment to stand by a precautionary measure but none was needed, Nowak said.
