A Delta flight from Detroit to Atlanta turned around and returned to Detroit Saturday after the pilot decided a bird flying around the cockpit was a dangerous distraction.
After a ground delay, followed by an aborted flight, the stowaway was captured, and the flight, which normally leaves Detroit around 10 am was finally able to leave again for Atlanta at 1:23 pm and made it to Atlanta.
Here’s the FlightAware log, to be read from the bottom up:
The bird apparently flew into the plane, a Boeing 717, while it was on the ground preparing for take-off; after attempts to find and remove it were unsuccessful the plane took off, with the pilot warning that “We’re going to take off, but if I hear any chirping in the cockpit, I’ll turn around.”
Many passengers took that as a joke, but a short while after take-off, the bird which the pilot thought was a hummingbird but others described as a sparrow, began flying around the cockpit area, and the captain reported on the intercom that “The bird is back.”
Photo: Edward Russell/Wikimedia
