A barn owl found its way into the cockpit of a Jet Airways Boeing 777 that was parked for the night at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, officials said on Monday. The nocturnal bird was discovered when airline staffers entered the aircraft on Monday morning to prepare it for the day’s flight operations.
On stepping inside the cockpit, they were surprised to see the beige-white coloured owl perched comfortably adjacent to the flight commander’s seat, said Jet officials. Later, as a staffer approached it, the owl allowed itself to be removed without a fuss and was soon released after some other excited colleagues clicked selfies with it.
A ground staffer said that the bird may have entered through an open door of the aircraft at night hoping to find some food and may later have been trapped inside the cockpit. Mumbai Airport has a slum pocket on the eastern side in the Kurla-Ghatkopar belt which attracts hordes of birds, posing a security hazard to aircraft here.
As soon as the news spread, Twitter users pointed out the bird will bring good omen for Jet Airways which is in throes of a financial crisis. The view stems from the belief that owl is the ‘vehicle’ of Goddess Lakshmi.
Oops! An owl was found inside Jet Airways B777 cockpit parked at BOM today morning!🦉 The bird was handed over to wildlife team.
Meanwhile, Naresh Goyal is hoping that this Capt Owl brings good luck to the airline as the nocturnal bird is considered to be a symbol of good omen!😁 pic.twitter.com/tK3im0lScU— BiTANKO BiSWAS (@Air_India_CREW) February 4, 2019
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