What are the most bizarre reasons for flight delays?

In Europe alone, more than 2000 flights are delayed every day for various reasons. The most common reasons for flight delay or cancellation are bad weather, strikes or technical issues on board. Delays in air transport are common, as almost no plane takes off at the scheduled time today. Nevertheless, these delays can be very long and can cause quite a few headaches for passengers.

If the delay is longer than 3 hours, passengers in Europe also have special rights summarised in Regulation EU 261/2004, which may include compensation of up to €600. Passengers may only be entitled to such compensation if the airline is responsible for the flight delay or cancellation. The following section provides some stories about the absurd reasons forcing airlines to cancel flights.

Bill Clinton’s hairstyle

In 1993, Bill Clinton was on his way home from a business trip. Just before the flight, he noticed that his hairstyle was very out of order and that he needed a haircut. To get his hairstyle in order, the international airport in Los Angeles had to close 4 runways. Consequently, the subsequent flights had significant delays.

A man on a flying mower

In 1982, Larry Walters tried out his private project – a flying mower. He had the idea of attaching 45 industrial balloons to the mower. It turned out that it was easy to get the mower airborne, though landing proved much more difficult. Things went so far that Larry and the mower arrived at the nearby airport in Los Angeles, where they had to reschedule flights in order to get the mower to the ground. Larry was then arrested for disrupting air traffic.

 

The migration of turtles

In July 2017, more than 400 turtles found their way to the New York JFK Airport during their migration period. Some of them found themselves on the runway, causing flights to be postponed. However, this was not the first time this had happened, as every year, during the migration period, turtles give airport staff a headache.

 

A toilet paper shortage

Toilet paper is one of the most important accessories on every plane and should always be in stock. However, in 2017, the staff of a British Airways plane found just before takeoff that the toilet paper had run out. Consequently, all passengers had to disembark and wait while the staff replaced the supplies of toilet paper. As a result, the passengers arrived at their final destination 5 hours late.

Stowaway

A few weeks after the inconvenience with toilet paper, another incident occurred on a British Airways plane. After checking the plane, the staff found a mouse that had somehow got on board. Due to the danger that it could chew through the wires, the plane was declared incapable of flying. Passengers had to wait 4 hours for the next flight.

Bees

The Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina could be called the true Wild West. Bees swarmed the airport preventing the pilots from flying. Later on the same day, flames flared up due to the high temperatures and a lost coyote appeared on the runway. Passengers really did not have much luck on this summer day.

Too old pilots

After analysing a plane of the Polish airlines, the staff at London Heathrow Airport established that both pilots were more than 60 years old. According to the regulation that entered into force in 2006, at least one of the pilots must be less than 60 years old. As a result, the flight was cancelled and the passengers had to wait for the arrival of a younger pilot.

A cat in the cockpit

A few years ago, a 10-year-old cat called Ripples was lost on a flight from Halifax to Toronto. After a long search, the frightened cat was finally found in the cockpit hiding behind some electronic instruments. Since the cat didn’t want to come out of its hiding place, the staff had to disassemble the entire cockpit, which caused several hours of delay.