Bird Flies Into Cockpit of Delta Flight, Forcing Plane to Return to Airport

Bird Flies Into Cockpit of Delta Flight, Forcing Plane to Return to Airport

Of all things to delay a flight, it may come as a shock that a tiny sparrow delayed a Delta flight, and then required the pilot to turn the aircraft around to return to Detroit after takeoff.  As a bird flies into cockpit of a Delta flight, maintenance crews were called to look for the bird.  Maintenance was unable to find it, but the pilot announced if they heard any chirping they’d have to turn the flight around.  The flight was scheduled to fly from Detroit to Atlanta.

According to Fox 5 Atlanta:

Maintenance crews were called in to try and find the bird. The pilot announced they may have to do a plane swap after crews were not able to locate the bird.

Ultimately, the plane took off, but shortly after take off the bird reappeared in the cockpit. The Captain decided to turn the plane around and head back to Detroit.

After landing back in Detroit, crews were able to find the bird and remove it from the plane.

So, there you have it.  There’s plenty of reasons flights get delayed, including animals, such as the numerous times snakes on a plane have delayed flights, but this might be the first time I’ve seen where it’s because of a bird flying into the cockpit of the aircraft.