On Camera, Pigeons Cause Chaos On US Flight Carrying 119 Passengers

NDTV

28-05-2025

New Delhi:
Two pigeons on board a Delta flight, scheduled to fly from Madison to Minneapolis, caused chaos and delay. The Delta Flight 2348 with 119 passengers and five crew members on board was all set to take off when a bird was spotted flapping around the cabin to passengers' utter shock.
A video, shared on Instagram, shows a pigeon flying above the passengers' heads. A man stood in the aisle to capture the fluttering bird with his jacket while others screamed in the background.
Tom Caw, a flyer, explained that the pigeon in the video was the second of the two on the Wisconsin-bound plane.
Describing the incident, Mr Caw said he boarded Delta Flight 2348 at MSP airport when he overheard someone tell a flight attendant there was a pigeon inside the plane half an hour ago. The captain then made an announcement confirming a pigeon was on board and that he had no experience dealing with it.
So, the baggage handlers came to the rescue and caught the pigeon. He said, "Baggage handlers boarded and carried the pigeon off. People applauded. A young girl asked if she could pet it."
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A post shared by Tom Caw (@cawtom)
But that wasn't it. As the plane moved, a second pigeon emerged, causing more delay.
Mr Caw, in his Instagram post, said, "This is my video of it flying through the cabin. It was caught, and we returned to the gate."
The pilot contacted the control tower and informed them about the pigeon inside the plane. "Pilot said when he radioed the control tower about us coming back due to a pigeon, the guy said that was a first for him, to which pilot jokingly told him that it was his second, the first being half an hour ago," Mr Caw wrote.
He added that another baggage holder came and removed the pigeon, which was still alive.
Mr Caw sarcastically said that pigeons were probably tired of flying and were looking for snacks. They didn't know that Delta's short flight to Madison doesn't offer any snacks or beverages, he said.
The video quickly went viral, with people unable to stop joking about the incident.
One user commented, "We got pigeons on a plane before GTA 6."
Another commented, "Good thing, no one freaked out."
"The pigeons overheard a passenger talking about a popcorn festival in Madison," wrote another.
The flight was delayed by 56 minutes.
The Delta Airlines spokeswoman confirmed the incident and appreciated "the careful actions of our people and our customers," as reported by The NY Post.