Authorities say bird wasn't cause of Oprah plane mishap

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) _ Officials now say that it was wear and tear, and not a collision with a bird, that damaged the windshield of Oprah Winfrey's private jet and forced it to return to the

Tuesday, December 27th 2005, 6:21 am

By: News On 6

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) _ Officials now say that it was wear and tear, and not a collision with a bird, that damaged the windshield of Oprah Winfrey's private jet and forced it to return to the city airport.

``There was no bird involved, but the pilot did tell my captain that he felt it was a fatigue thing with the glass,'' Battalion Chief John Ahlman, a Santa Barbara City Fire Department spokesman, said Tuesday.

Ahlman had earlier attributed the damage to a bird.

Winfrey, host of ``The Oprah Winfrey Show,'' and her boyfriend, Stedman Graham, weren't hurt in Monday's incident, which occurred just after the jet had taken off from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport.

The 51-year-old talk-show host bought a mansion on 42 acres of land in the hills of Montecito five years ago.