(WFRV) – A pair of unticketed, feathered passengers delayed what should have been a short flight between Minnesota and Wisconsin on Saturday.
Tom Caw, a passenger aboard the Delta Air Lines flight between Minneapolis and Madison, shared footage of the disruptive pigeons with Nexstar’s WFRV.
In a post to his Instagram, Caw explained that a passenger reported a pigeon on the plane to a flight attendant, and that the pilot confirmed it. The pigeon was carried off the plane, but that was hardly the end of the story.
The plane, Caw said in his post, taxied to the runway, and another pigeon appeared, causing chaos as it flew through the cabin.
Caw’s video shows one person using a jacket to try and catch the second pigeon, and the plane subsequently returned to the gate. The pigeon was safely removed by a baggage handler.
“My guess is the pigeons were tired of flying and wanted snacks,” Caw joked on Instagram. “They didn’t know this flight to MSN is too short for Delta to offer beverage/snack service.”
The flight was scheduled to depart the gate at 10:15 p.m. and arrive in Madison at roughly 11:21 p.m.; however, it took off at around 11:38 p.m. and arrived at its destination around 12:17 a.m.
“Delta appreciates the careful actions of our people and our customers to safely remove two birds from the aircraft prior to departure and we apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel,” Delta said in a statement shared with Nexstar. They didn’t offer any insight on how the pigeons were able to get aboard the plane without a ticket.