Pigeons Delay Delta Flight, Force Plane To Return To Gate Twice: Watch Video Of Fowl Play

Chaotic moment as Delta Air Lines passenger catches pigeon on board

A Delta flight had to return to its gate twice due to stowaway pigeons on board.

Two pigeons caused chaos on a Delta flight, causing the flight to return to the gate twice.

On Saturday May 24, two stowaway pigeons caused the delay on Delta Flight 2348, which was supposed to fly from Minneapolis to Madison, Wisconsin, according to passenger Thomas Caw, who was onboard the plane during the incident.

“My guess is the pigeons were tired of flying and wanted snacks,” said Caw. “They didn’t know this flight to MSN is too short for Delta to offer beverage/snack service.”

A passenger told a flight attendant that there was a bird on the plane, and soon, the pilot was announcing to everyone that a pigeon was on board the plane, and that "he had no experience with this situation," according to Caw.

A video recorded by Caw shows a man attempting to capture the bird with his jacket as it was flying through the cabin.

The pigeons caused the flight to be delayed by 56 minutes, according to ABC News. Delta has since issued an apology.

Delta told the news outlet that it "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."

USA TODAY has reached out to Delta regarding the incident.

The first pigeon began to fly around the plane's cabin after boarding, causing the plane to return to the gate, according to ABC News.

A baggage handler boarded the plane and caught the bird as it was walking underneath the seats, reported CBS News.

The first bird was caught in time, and the plane was set to make an on-time pushback from the gate.

But then, passengers found a second bird on the plane as it taxied to the runway. The plane returned to the gate, and a different baggage handler caught the second bird.

The plane eventually arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, an hour behind schedule.

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@gannett.com

This story was updated to add a video.