Shropshire Star

Airline finds owl napping in a plane engine during pre-flight checks

A team of engineers rescued the owl before releasing it into the wild.

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A Virgin Atlantic plane

An airline crew received a shock when it found an owl sleeping inside a plane engine as they were performing pre-flight checks.

The team at Virgin Australia found the napping bird as the plane was being checked at Melbourne Airport.

The airline posted photos to Twitter of the owl hidden in the engine after they found it, saying: “This owl didn’t give a hoot where it napped!”

The airline’s owner, Sir Richard Branson, then weighed in on the story with a pun, tweeting: “Just when I thought I’d seen it owl… Great job team.”

After the owl was found by a team of engineers, it was assessed for injuries before being released back into the wild.

Virgin Australia said: “The cute little guy was found during our pre-flight checks which is a good reminder of why we do them.

“Our team of engineers rescued it and it was checked out before being safely released back into the wild.”

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