Staff were left in a flap after a swan landed on Heathrow Airport runway, holding up 20 flights out of Heathrow. The swan gave the staff the run-around for nearly ten minutes, preventing the 20 flights from taking off from the runway.
With an Air France flight dormant on the runway, and the swan repeatedly refusing to be picked up, the rescue team were forced to follow the animal in their car.
An aviation enthusiast who happened to be filming runway 27L caught the saga on video, calling it “too funny”.
The rescue mission which took place on November 3 led to the runway being closed for nine minutes, but according to a spokesperson for Heathrow, no flights were delayed.
Once the animal was finally caught, it was taken to the airports on site animal care centre by Heathrow’s bird management team.
YouTube users found the video footage highly amusing, including one user who jested “they were in a bit of a flap there,” and another user adding “the goose just wanted to be with its bigger mothers”.
The spokesperson for Heathrow Airport added: “Once rescued, the swan was taken to our animal reception centre to be properly looked after by the on-site team.”
Heathrow sees up to 1,300 planes taking off and landing per day, and needs to ensure that no animals or debris are on the runway to endanger flights. Birds can present a safety risk as they can easily get caught up in aircraft engines.
Watch the video here:
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