Bird prompts Delta flight to return to Detroit

DETROIT -- It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's a bird on a plane. A Delta Air Lines flight captain decided to turn his plane around and return to Detroit after a bird was discovered inside the flight deck.

The airline says in a statement that shortly after takeoff Saturday, the pilots of Flight 1943 from Detroit to Atlanta saw a small bird in the flight deck. The unexpected passenger had entered the aircraft during boarding.

The captain decided to turn the plane around to "avoid a potential distraction" during the flight. The aircraft landed without incident and the bird was removed and set free.

A flight tracking website shows the plane made a quick U-turn and returned to Detroit.

After landing, passenger Shane Perry told The Washington Post that he saw the pilot whisper to the ticket agent.

"He said, 'In my 18 years of doing this, this is the first time I've ever seen this,' " Perry told The Post. "There's a bird in the cockpit."