Feathered Chaos on the Tarmac: Delta Flight Delayed by Unlikely Avian Passengers
A Delta Air Lines flight departing from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Madison, Wisconsin, faced an unexpected and rather feathered complication on Saturday. The aircraft, scheduled to make a routine domestic trip, was significantly delayed when not one, but two pigeons managed to sneak aboard the plane, resulting in a spectacle that surprised passengers, baffled the crew, and momentarily brought operations to a halt.
Feathered Flight 2348, which was carrying 119 passengers along with five crew members, was moments away from departure when the peculiar incident unfolded. Passengers had just settled into their seats and buckled in when one of them noticed a most unusual sight: a bird wandering freely inside the aircraft’s cabin.
Feathered According to passenger Tom Caw, who shared his experience with CNN, things took a strange turn from the moment he boarded. I looked at her thinking, ‘What on earth is she talking about?’” he recalled. Initially dismissing the comment, Caw soon realized the woman wasn’t joking.
Just as the aircraft was preparing to push back from the gate, Caw heard a disturbance a few rows in front of him. People were murmuring, some standing up to get a better look. Sure enough, one pigeon had made itself at home inside the plane. In response, the flight crew promptly called for help from ground staff. Baggage handlers boarded the aircraft in an effort to locate and safely remove the bird, which proved to be elusive.
Then, just as the situation seemed to be under control, the second uninvited feathered guest appeared. This one made its entrance in theatrical fashion—emerging from an unseen location and casually strolling down the center aisle, as if it were a frequent flyer.
Passengers reacted with a mixture of laughter, alarm, and disbelief. One quick-thinking traveler jumped up and attempted to trap the bird with his jacket, hoping to corral it before it could cause further chaos. The attempt, however, only startled the pigeon, sending it into a flurry of wings as it launched into the air and began flying erratically through the cabin.
Caw managed to capture the moment on video. In the footage, the bird can be seen gliding above passengers’ heads as someone makes a desperate—and unsuccessful—attempt to catch it. Eventually, the bird flew toward the rear of the plane, out of immediate reach.
With the situation escalating and a live bird still onboard, the pilot made the decision to contact air traffic control. The controller, surprised by the nature of the call, responded with astonishment: “You guys need assistance, or are you all good? There’s a pigeon on the plane and it won’t leave? That’s a first for me. Wow… Oh my goodness, that is insane.”
Back at the gate, another baggage handler boarded the aircraft. This time, the pigeon was successfully located and carefully removed from the cabin without incident. With both birds finally off the plane, the situation was resolved and the flight was cleared for departure.
Delta Air Lines issued a statement to CNN following the incident. The airline thanked both its personnel and the passengers for their composure and assistance in handling the unusual disruption.
Though the incident was brief, it caused a ripple of delays in the flight’s schedule. The aircraft eventually took off and landed safely in Madison, albeit approximately one hour later than originally planned.
While airport security and aircraft maintenance protocols are designed to prevent foreign objects—or animals—from boarding planes, birds occasionally find ways to bypass these systems. Airport terminals and hangars are not immune to wildlife intrusions, and in rare cases, birds can end up inside a plane either through open boarding doors or during cleaning and loading operations.
However, two pigeons making it onboard a commercial flight and causing such a disruption is certainly an unusual occurrence.
This peculiar event offered a lighthearted, if slightly chaotic, twist to the usually structured and procedural world of commercial aviation. For the passengers onboard Flight 2348, it was an experience they are unlikely to forget. “You expect turbulence, maybe a mechanical issue. But you never expect pigeons to delay your flight,” joked one passenger on social media after the flight finally arrived in Madison.
As for the pigeons, their motives remain unknown. Whether they were seeking warmth, food, or simply curious about air travel, they certainly left an impression on passengers and crew alike.
Thankfully, the crew acted quickly, the passengers stayed mostly calm, and no one—including the birds—was harmed.
The unusual episode concluded with a safe arrival, an amusing story for everyone involved, and possibly a new tale to add to the long list of in-flight oddities. If nothing else, the two pigeons managed to earn their fifteen minutes of fame—and perhaps an honorary place in aviation folklore.