Swan ‘apprehended’ after wandering on to a runway and halting flights at Heathrow
A SWAN caused mayhem yesterday when it wandered on to a runway at Heathrow.
The bird stopped flights at the UK’s busiest airport at around lunchtime, causing delays of up to half an hour.
One passenger said on Twitter: “When your flight at Heathrow has been delayed because ops is trying to get a swan off the runway. One of the more bizarre causes of a delay!”
Another said: “Departures are halted at Heathrow because there’s a swan on the runway. Somebody call the Queen.”
And another said: “Did the swan happen to say what they was protesting about and how long they plan the sit in for?”
A Heathrow spokesman said: “Our birdwatching team safely apprehended a swan which found itself on one of our runways.
“Flights were paused very briefly to ensure the safety of passengers and the bird. Heathrow is now operating as normal.”
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Heathrow handles about 1,400 planes a day and has teams to ensure no flights are endangered by animals or debris on the runway.
Birds can become caught in aircraft engines and the airport has been made as “unappealing as possible” to deter them.
A swan also brought Heathrow to a standstill in 2014, leaving passengers laughing as staff scrambled to capture it.
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