With a motivational caption, a picture of hundreds of birds seemingly flying close to a British Airways aircraft went viral. Snopes sought clarification.
According to a story, a British Airways pilot named Jason experienced an emotional outburst after learning the reason why birds were flying next to his aircraft.
Readers wrote to Snopes in March 2024 to enquire about a story of a pilot who reportedly became upset when he realised why a group of birds was flying adjacent to his aircraft. One reader sent the headline of a story from the happiness-life.org website, which said, “The pilot’s emotional reaction when he discovered why birds were flying alongside the plane.”
An eye-catching image of hundreds of birds seemingly encircling a British Airways flight was included in the narrative. Some readers may associate these images with bird strikes, a frequent occurrence in aviation where birds and aeroplanes collide.
According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, almost 90% of bird hits occur at or close to airports, typically during takeoff or landing.
US Airways Flight 1549, in which Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger made a safe landing in the Hudson River in 2009, is among the most well-known bird strike occurrences.
Snopes sought clarification and discovered the truth about the picture and the viral narrative.
The ‘Emotional’ Pilot’s Story Goes Viral
As a seasoned pilot, Jason has faced many unexpected challenges in his profession that have required him to think fast to come up with answers.
However, a particular situation made him a hero.
Jason was recently flying when a huge flock of birds suddenly attacked him. These birds were banging against the windows of the aircraft, making loud noises.
Jason was taken aback by the strange scene he witnessed. He tried to get away from the irate birds after realising that the lives of the passengers were in jeopardy, but it was harder than he thought
He had to turn back towards the airport after losing control of the aircraft. As the onslaught grew more intense, he tried a novel tactic: landing on water.
Despite the difficult landing, none of the passengers were hurt.
When rescuers arrived, they dispatched tugboats to pull the plane out of the ocean. The continued bird attacks caused the rescue effort to be delayed, but all of the passengers were safely evacuated. The cause behind the birds’ behaviour was unknown, but despite the rescue team’s best efforts to shoo them away, they continued to persist.
An inquiry revealed the cause of the bird attack on the aircraft. It was found that one of the passengers was involved in the illicit trade of exotic birds and was trying to transport birds.
Jason felt a wave of relief and tears of joy ran down his cheeks when everything ended and he realised that everyone was safe. He had discovered an illicit trade in addition to averting a catastrophe.
However, as some readers may have deduced from the fact that the pilot “Jason” had no last name, this story was entirely fictional. Additionally, even though British Airways’ logo was apparent in the eye-catching image, the report made no mention of the carrier.
This story was an example of glurge, which is a sentimental or heartbreaking story that distorts or ignores the facts in order to undermine its own inspirational message.
Snopes discovered related articles that used the same image as the thumbnail for numerous YouTube videos and on other obscure blogs. The headline of another fake article read, “British Airways planes carrying Christians attacked by strange birds in air.”
The Birds Photo by British Airways
Using the useful website TinEye.com, a reverse-image search for the picture of the birds and the British Airways flight produced thousands of results. A page on airliners.net was the most useful result. Adam Samu took the picture on June 15, 2004, according to the page’s caption.
This image was taken at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport in Hungary and showed a British Airways Boeing 757-236 taking flight.
Samu is the administrator of the aviation website AIRportal.hu, according to a 2018 investigation by The Observers on France24.com. Additionally,
Samu released a statement in which he said that the photograph was “a bit of an optical illusion” and that the birds were not as near the aeroplane as they would have seemed:
Runway 31R at Budapest Airport is where the picture was taken. Since the aircraft is a Boeing 757, which has been withdrawn from British Airways’ fleet for a number of years, it cannot be recent. When the jet was ready to take off, the birds were on the grass at the airport and suddenly flew off.
The birds are not that close to the plane in the picture, so it is actually a bit of an optical illusion. In Hungary, starlings are a common bird.
They are between 19 and 23 cm in size, so you can see that they were farther away from the plane when it took off than it was. Furthermore, I can attest that no one was hurt and that the plane did not strike any birds.
Samu was contacted by Snopes to enquire about the picture and to find out if he knew it was being used as a thumbnail image for YouTube videos and on obscure blogs. If there is a reaction, this story will be updated.