Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Inflight Event / Encounter Bird / Animal
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Diverted; General Declared Emergency; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Environment - Non Weather Related
Shortly after takeoff from ZZZ we encountered numerous circling turkey vultures. There were so many that we had nowhere to go but straight ahead. The First Officer managed to miss all but one which hit us on the right wing slat somewhere close to the middle. Immediately after the hit; we got the SLAT FAIL message. I told Center that we needed delay vectors to work out the problem and do some checklists; which they provided. I started the QRH and tried to contact Dispatch through ACARS and company radio. The radio did not work so communication was done strictly through ACARS. About 10 minutes after the SLAT FAIL message; we got the RUDDER NML MODE FAIL; and the ELEV NML MODE FAIL; messages on EICAS. In addition to the SLAT FAIL we also lost some higher level functions. I declared an emergency and we decided to divert to a nearby airport based on our damage assessment of the right wing; our fuel load; and the weather. After I requested the diversion and finished the checklists I notified the passengers that it would be a normal landing and told the flight attendants to prepare the cabin. About 15 miles from the airport; I took the controls and landed the airplane. We parked the plane at the concourse and had Maintenance assess the damage; there was a dent on the slat and also a broken skew sensor. Today we ferried the aircraft to an on line station with no further incident.
[No substantive additional information was included in the secondary narrative.]
A commuter departure encountered a flock of circling birds; one of which was struck by the right wing damaging the slat system. The flight crew declared an emergency and diverted to a nearby airport.