‘Dodged a Bullet’: Elton John’s Jet Faces Mid-Runway Scare After Hawk Divebombs It

Last Updated:February 01, 2026, 23:52 IST

Sir Elton John narrowly prevented a fowl strike at Farnborough Airport when pilot Duncan Gillespie delayed take hang of-off, guaranteeing a safe flight to Paris for the singer and his family.

Sir Elton John narrowly prevented a fowl strike at Farnborough Airport when pilot Duncan Gillespie delayed take hang of-off, guaranteeing a safe flight to Paris for the singer and his family. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Sir Elton John had a slim obtain away final week after his non-public jet became forced to obtain an weird and wonderful manoeuvre moments sooner than take hang of-off to sustain away from a doable fowl strike at Farnborough Airport.

The 78-year-extinct singer became travelling with his family aboard a Boeing 737 when a immense fowl of prey — described by the pilot as a “spacious hawk” — suddenly dived towards the aircraft as it sped down the runway en route to Paris on January 23.

Pilot Duncan Gillespie said the incident occurred just as the plane was approaching its critical take-off decision speed, known as V1, after which aborting a take-off is generally not advised. Faced with the imminent risk of a bird strike, Gillespie delayed lifting the aircraft into the air to allow it to pass beneath the bird.

Footage later shared from inside the cockpit captured the tense moments, with Gillespie heard calling out a delay after spotting the bird. His co-pilot can also be heard reacting to what he described as a “big” fowl of prey.

In a put up shared on Facebook alongside the video, Gillespie stated it became the vital time in his flying profession that he had taken any such resolution. He defined that two birds regarded as if it might perchance perchance be eager and that rotating the plane at the scheduled second can also absorb resulted in one being ingested into the left engine.

“My colleague and I had been every of the certain thought that if we’d absorb turned around when we’re going to deserve to absorb, we’d absorb taken the hawk throughout the left-hand engine,” he wrote, adding that the decision was one that only a human could make in the moment.

“We dodged a bullet,” Gillespie stated, describing the manoeuvre as “very unorthodox” but necessary to avoid what could have been a serious incident and costly damage, with Sir Elton and his family on board.

The close call comes after a previous aviation scare involving the singer in 2022, when his private jet suffered a hydraulic failure while flying to New York. The aircraft was forced to turn back and twice aborted an emergency landing in the UK due to strong winds from Storm Franklin, eventually landing safely on the third attempt.

Emergency crews were deployed at the time, and reports later said the singer was shaken by the incident.

Despite the latest scare, Sir Elton’s flight to Paris proceeded safely after the bird avoidance manoeuvre, with no injuries reported.

News world ‘Dodged a Bullet’: Elton John’s Jet Faces Mid-Runway Scare After Hawk Divebombs It

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