Jason and his co-pilot, Jimmy, could hear loud banging against the side of the plane but they could not see what was going on from the cockpit. One of the cabin crew suddenly came in to warn them – it was a swarm of birds chasing and attacking the plane.
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Jason tried to shake off the birds. But he had to be careful – if the swarm of birds hit the engines, the entire plane can go down. But the birds seem to get more aggressive as time passed. Jason had no idea why. The situation just seemed to be getting worse.
They came out of nowhere
It all started as an ordinary flight on an ordinary day. Jason had no idea that this flight would end up being the worst in his career. He has never been attacked by a swarm of birds before and the birds seem to have no plans to leave their plane alone.
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The passengers are beginning to panic. They felt like the plane would crash any time soon because of the birds. Jason made an announcement to ensure the passengers that everything was under control and that the birds were probably just curious.
He had never seen anything like this before
But what Jason announced to the passengers was far from the truth. Birds do not normally behave this way. In his years working as a pilot, he never had seen birds attack a plane like this before. Jason told Jimmy to call flight control and ask for help.
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The number of birds coming at the plane was increasing and they were getting more violent. Jason feared that it was only a matter of time before the birds would ruin the engines. But there was another problem.
He could not control the plane
Jimmy said he could not reach flight control. Nobody was answering. Jason told him to keep on trying. Jason then instructed the cabin crew to calm the passengers down. The passengers could barely see anything out the windows because there were too many birds.
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Their presence darkened the whole plane, making the passengers more terrified. Jason tried to gain altitude with the plane. The number of birds was extremely high that the sheer volume of their presence was making the plane steer down.
Hovering over the city
Jason started to panic when he saw skyscrapers up ahead. The plane was now hovering dangerously above the city. Jason tried to veer away from the city and headed towards the countryside.
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Jason had no idea how he was going to land the plane in an airport in this state. Finally, Jimmy was able to get a hold of flight control. They were instructed to turn the plane to a smaller airport that was closer to their current location.
More birds joined them
Jason did not waste any time. He turned the plane around. And as he did, Jason hit several birds. This triggered the birds to be angrier. The birds continued to hit the plane with more force that cracks were starting to show in some of the windows.
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The situation became more dangerous. As they reached the countryside, things became worse. To get to the airstrip, Jason had to pass a forest nearby. More birds emerged from that forest and joined the swarm of birds attacking the plane.
The worst happened
While Jason and Jimmy were focusing on reaching the airstrip, they heard a loud bang. The worst thing had happened – the engine burst. The plane started to shake and Jason was losing control. He can tell that they were losing altitude.
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The plane was now falling from the sky. The passengers heard the loud bang and Jason could hear them screaming in panic. Jason could feel his heart pounding in his chest. This was the first time he had trouble flying a plane.
An emergency landing
Jason tried his best to block out all the noise around him and focus on getting the plane to the airstrip. He knew there was one more thing he could do and this could be their last shot. Jason had to make an emergency landing.
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Jason aimed for a lake nearby. Ending up in the water ensured that the plane did not break into pieces. Now that the tough part was over, Jason can now focus on the crew and the passengers.
They had to evacuate
Jason could hear screams and cries from the passengers. They were terrified and Jason could not blame them. Jason and Jimmy assured the cabin crew that the hard part was over. When the crew calmed down, they immediately started working.
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This was when they found another problem. They could not open the emergency exits because the swarm of birds was still hovering around the plane. But protocol dictates that they could not stay inside the plane. Everybody had to evacuate. The plane was starting to sink.
Birds attacked the passengers
The cabin crew calmed everyone down and taught them to put on their safety vests. But some of the passengers panicked and rushed to get out of the plane first. The first passengers who panicked and got out first immediately regret their recklessness.
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The birds started attacking them the moment they got out. Most of them ended up diving into the water. Some of the birds even entered the plane. They were aggressively heading towards the baggage room. Were they after something inside it?
Coastguard to the rescue
Jason ignored this. The priority was to get everyone out of the plane before it sinks to the bottom of the lake. The crew helped the passengers get out. He was the last one out of the plane. By this time, the coastguard was approaching to rescue them with more boats behind them.
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The coastguard made sure everyone got out of the water safely. The swarm of birds was still hovering over the plane. They kept circling around as if looking for something. Jason was confused. He seriously had no idea why the birds were after the plane.
Tugboats were on the way
The coastguard sent one of the smaller boats closer to get a closer look. As the coast guard approached the plane, the birds became aggressive once more. The coast guard tried to think of a way to scare the birds away so that they could conduct their investigation.
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They had to inspect the plane before it fully sinks. There was no time to lose. They needed to come up with a plan quickly. The coastguard was informed that massive tugboats were on the way to help tow the plane out of the water.
Coming up with a plan
The passengers and the cabin crew were sent ahead to shore so that the emergency team can tend to them. Jason decided to stay behind with the coastguard to help with the investigation. He was also curious about what was causing the birds to behave this way.
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Jason then remembered something from his training as a pilot – airports scared birds away by making sounds. He told the coastguard that they could try it to scare away the birds. They immediately gave it a try and blasted an alarm in full volume out of their speakers.
The plan worked
Once the birds heard the high-pitched alarms, they fled back to the forest. The coastguard kept the alarms blaring so that the plane could be towed out of the water without the birds attacking. The crew on the tugboats started working quickly in fear that the swarm of birds might come back.
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They attached cables to the plane and started pulling. As luck would have it, the plane was easily towed. By this time, the police arrived on the scene. As captain of the plane, Jason was responsible. He was immediately set aside for questioning.
Questioned by the police
Jason faced the police. He recalled what happened and told them how the swarm of birds damaged the engine. Jason also recalled how the birds who entered the plane immediately went to the luggage room.
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The police agreed that it could be a key to finding out what happened. The police tried to ask him more questions about the luggage. Jason told them he had no idea what was in there – they would have to question the passengers for that.
A shady passenger
The police squad tending to the passengers started questioning about the luggage. But one person was acting a little shady. Most of his answers were contradicting. When they asked him about his luggage, he froze for a moment before coming up with an answer.
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The police found all of this very suspicious and set him aside as they ran a background check on him. The report that came back raised more questions. His passport was fake and when they ran his fingerprints, it got a hit on the police database.
Searching the plane
It turned out that the shady passenger was a convicted felon who was just released from jail although they still had to make some calls to find out what his crime was. They had no doubt that he was transporting something that attracted the birds.
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Luckily the plane is now out of the water. A special research team was sent out to inspect everything and make sure that everything in the plane was carefully searched. But before they could even get inside the plane, they heard strange noises coming from it.
Finding the culprit
The research team was able to enter the plane. They were instructed to go straight to the luggage room but it was not an easy task. The inside of the plane was completely damaged and the door to the luggage area was jammed.
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Special tools had to be used to break the door open. Once in the luggage area, they heard strange noises. They were able to pinpoint the suitcase where the sound was coming from. when they opened the suitcase, they all gasped.
A mistake repeated
The lead of the research team told the police over the radio to detain the shady passenger. The name on the suitcase was the name on the fake passport he was using. The research team then took the suitcase out of the plane wreck carefully.
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It turned out that the shady passenger was smuggling exotic birds. The man was detained for smuggling exotic animals before. When he was released, he continued doing the same thing again. It looks like this man never learned his lesson.
A rightful punishment
The man was eventually charged with smuggling exotic birds and for endangering the lives of everyone on the plane that day. There was no way he would be released again. Jason was in the trial and burst into tears of relief.
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This just goes to show that animals may seem like simple creatures to us but they do share a special connection with each other. And this connection is something that we may not understand. So you should think twice before putting any animal to harm.