No birding pass: Tree sparrow delays Kaohsiung-bound Cathay Pacific flight

Birds are not always aviation's best friend with more than 270,000 reports of wildlife strikes to aircraft between 2016 and 2021, according to a International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) report. 

According to both the ICAO and the United States' Federal Aviation Authority, most incidents involving wildlife strikes occur during take-off or landing, as birds are more likely to be present at lower altitudes. 

One sparrow took things into its own wings on Tuesday (Jan 27), defying wildlife strike patterns to create a different sort of attention. 

Videos posted on two Threads accounts by passengers show what appeared to be a tree sparrow causing some disturbance to Kaohsiung-bound Cathay Pacific flight CX452 while it was on the ground at Hong Kong International Airport.

The sparrow, a common urban bird in Hong Kong, was seen flying past a row of luggage compartments in the Airbus A330 as Cathay Pacific's ground staff attempted to coordinate trapping it by communicating through walkie talkies. 

Some passengers were seen standing by their seats as the unticketed passenger made its way through the cabin. 

A subsequent video showed a man carrying the sparrow off the plane with a blanket. 

@asiaone

A little birdie 🐦 told us that flight CX452 bound for Taipei on Jan 27 morning (Tuesday) was delayed for 51 minutes before departing Hong Kong. #Taipei #HongKong #bird #delay

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Social media users on the two posts, which have since been reshared more than 2,000 times, mostly reacted in amusement at the rare incident, with some jokingly suggesting that the bird be given a seat as it may be tired from flying. 

Checks by AsiaOne on flight tracking platform FlightAware indicate that CX452 departed about 50 minutes later than its scheduled departure time of 8.55am. 

The flight landed uneventfully at Kaohsiung at about 11.10am, about 45 minutes later than its scheduled arrival. 

AsiaOne has reached out to Cathay Pacific for more information. 

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editor@asiaone.com