MINNEAPOLIS — A Delta Air Lines flight was delayed twice on Saturday after two rogue pigeons caused pandemonium onboard, prompting the aircraft to return to the gate not once, but twice, before finally taking off for Wisconsin.
The bizarre incident occurred aboard Delta Flight 2348, a scheduled flight from Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport to Dane County Regional Airport in Madison. The situation unfolded shortly after boarding, when a pigeon was spotted flying around the cabin.
Video footage captured by passenger Tom Caw, later shared with ABC News and posted to Instagram, showed one man attempting to catch the bird by swinging his jacket. The aircraft returned to the gate, where baggage handlers boarded and successfully removed the bird, to applause from amused passengers.
But the airborne drama wasn’t over.
After the flight resumed taxiing toward the runway, a second pigeon emerged from hiding, fluttering through the cabin and triggering another return to the gate. According to Caw, the pilot informed the control tower of the second avian disruption, only to be met with disbelief.
“When he radioed the control tower about us coming back due to a pigeon, the guy said that was a first for him. The pilot told him it was the second time for him — the first being half an hour earlier,” Caw wrote on social media.
Delta confirmed the dual delays in a statement Tuesday, saying the flight was delayed by 56 minutes in total. “We appreciate 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,” the airline said.
Both birds were removed alive and unharmed, Delta noted. The airline did not confirm how the pigeons got on board but noted that such an incident was highly unusual.
Caw joked about the surreal experience, writing, “My guess is the pigeons were tired of flying and wanted snacks. They didn’t know this flight to MSN is too short for Delta to offer beverage/snack service.”
The flight eventually took off and landed without further incident in Madison, according to flight tracking data from FlightAware.com. The Airbus A220 was carrying 119 passengers and five crew members.
The incident, while disruptive, provided passengers with a rare and humorous travel story, a reminder that not all flight delays are caused by weather or mechanical issues — sometimes, it’s just pigeons looking for a ride.
