Stowaway pigeon delays flight and other peculiar flight delay stories

Has your flight ever been delayed for the most peculiar reasons? On the 9^th November, a flight scheduled from Moscow to Petropavlovsk was delayed for more than 20 minutes after one curious stowaway passenger managed to smuggle itself on board an Aeroflot flight.

How does a pigeon get into an Aeroflot flight? One might ask

The pigeon must have sneaked into the aeroplane through one of the doors, without any of the crew noticing. However, the stowaway passenger was eventually noticed when the crew checked the aircraft before take-off.

How the crew managed to get rid of the winged passenger

During the first couple minutes, the pigeon was chased around the aeroplane in an effort to get him out. The crew then realised that this was not the best idea and then proceeded to catch the rummaging bird and later set him free out of the plane. Bye, bye birdie it is indeed.

The flight then departed 20 minutes behind schedule.

Other peculiar flight delays and cancellations

The toilet roll delay

A British Airways flight that was scheduled from Gatwick to Barbados was delayed because of a shortage of toilet rolls. The aeroplane departed five hours later than scheduled when the aeroplane was finally topped up with the necessary toilet paper.

The coffee machine delay

A flight departing from Washington scheduled to arrive in Munich airport had to perform an emergency landing due to a faulty coffee machine that was blowing smoke. After the aeroplane successfully landed in Boston, and the issue for the smoke was identified and resolved, the passengers finally continued their travel but encountered a delay for 16 hours!

A seal on the runway! What?

In Alaska, a pilot that was checking a runway because of icy weather conditions discovered that a seal had settled on the runway and would not budge. Animal control came and hauled the wild animal off the runway (without harming it of course) and so that the flight was fit to depart. The total delays caused by the loose seal is still unclear.

The runway was too short

Passengers on a flight from Chicago to Chattanooga were dissatisfied when, mid-flight, the pilot announced that aeroplane would be turned around and returning to Chicago airport. Apparently, the runway at Chattanooga airport was too short for the aircraft. This meant that, back at Chicago airport, the passengers and crew had to change aircraft. Apparently, the aircraft meant to complete the flight had to undergo an operational check before being allowed to take off. The airline decided that it would not keep passengers waiting and changed the aircraft to a 76 seater. As it turned out, the new aeroplane was too big for the receiving runway. If it ain’t broke … just fulfil all the inspections and checks next time.

The pilot got bitten by fish in Mauritius

A pilot bitten by a fish during his holiday in Mauritius had to be taken to hospital. Essentially, this meant that he could not attend his shift and fly the aeroplane. Another pilot had to be flown in and that resulted in the flight being delayed for 14 hours.

Claim compensation for your delayed flight

In all of these scenarios, the delays had great consequences on the passengers. The frustration of being delayed and your plans being disrupted can be lessened by the fact that you may be entitled to receive compensation for your disruption. If your flight has been delayed or cancelled and you wish to know if you are entitled to compensation, submit your claim with Flight-Delayed.com. We will take care of everything and you will only have to pay our 25% no win no fee basis if we succeed!

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