‘Dodged A Bullet’: British Pop Icon Elton John’s Jet Has Mid-Runway Scare After Hawk Divebombs Plane

Last Updated:February 01, 2026, 23:11 IST

Sir Elton John narrowly avoided a bird strike at Farnborough Airport when pilot Duncan Gillespie delayed take-off, ensuring a safe flight to Paris for the singer and his family.

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

Sir Elton John had a narrow escape last week after his private jet was forced to make an unusual manoeuvre moments before take-off to avoid a potential bird strike at Farnborough Airport.

The 78-year-old singer was travelling with his family aboard a Boeing 737 when a large bird of prey — described by the pilot as a “huge 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" bird of prey.

In a post shared on Facebook alongside the video, Gillespie said it was the first time in his flying career that he had taken such a decision. He explained that two birds appeared to be involved and that rotating the aircraft at the scheduled moment could have resulted in one being ingested into the left engine.

“My colleague and I were both of the clear opinion that if we’d have rotated when we should have, we’d have taken the hawk through 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 said, 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’: British Pop Icon Elton John’s Jet Has Mid-Runway Scare After Hawk Divebombs Plane

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