British Airways service from Heathrow to New York cancelled after failure to scare away blackbird that left droppings on flightdeck seats

A British Airways flight due to take off from Heathrow to the US had to be cancelled when a bird found flapping inside the cockpit could not be removed by crew.

Efforts to remove the blackbird over several hours culminated in airport ground staff using a recording of birds in distress in an attempt to scare it away, but this succeeded only in forcing the animal into hiding.

Passengers on Monday’s flight BA189 to Newark, New Jersey, were transferred to a later service.

One passenger, Anna Dolganov, told the Guardian the bird had defecated on the seats of the captain and first officer. “We sat on the plane as the seat covers were changed. Then, as the plane reached its starting position, a blackbird flew into the face of the pilot and started flying around the cockpit.”

She said the passengers were kept up to speed with events through regular updates by the captain, such as “Our feathered friend is still at large,” and “If you happen to hear strange noises, please do not be alarmed”.

Sam Twidle (@xsamanthapaige) @britishairways any update on the bird of flight 189? Very concerned about his well being. #birdsonaplane #starlingsindistress

The farrago reached its denouement, according to Dolganov, when airport staff played a recording entitled “starlings in distress” to try to scare the bird away, but it was never found and the flight was cancelled.

A spokeswoman for BA said: “When it comes to flying, we’re the experts, so it’s not surprising this bird wanted to hitch a ride on one of our 12 daily flights to New York. We could not help him out this time, but after a short delay we made sure our non-feathered customers got to the Big Apple as soon as we could.”

In March, a BA flight to San Francisco was unable to take off for hours because of a mouse on board the plane.