A private jet carrying Sir Elton John was involved in a potentially dangerous near-miss last month after a large bird of prey flew directly toward the aircraft during take-off.
The 78-year-old musician was travelling with his family on a Boeing 737 when the incident occurred at Farnborough Airport on January 23, as the plane departed for Paris.
Pilot Duncan Gillespie later revealed that he was forced to make a last-second decision after spotting what he described as a ‘huge hawk’ diving toward the aircraft.
According to Gillespie, the plane was taking off in a 25-knot crosswind and had just reached its V1 decision speed – the point at which pilots are normally committed to becoming airborne – when the bird appeared.
Cockpit footage from the moment shows the pilot calling out a delay as the bird flew across the jet’s path, with the co-pilot reacting in shock at the size of the animal.
The heart-pounding audio reveals the pilot saying ‘delay… bird… oh s***.’
His co-pilot can then be heard answering: ‘F****** falcon, that was a big a** bird!’
It was a tense moment, but luckily the aircraft was able to gain altitude despite delaying in the crucial moment.
Gillespie said there were two birds, likely acting defensively, and that both pilots agreed a standard rotation would have resulted in the bird striking the left engine.
Sharing the footage on Facebook, Gillespie described it as the first time in his flying career he had made such a call, saying the decision helped avoid a ‘major incident’ and potentially significant damage to the aircraft.
He added that it was the kind of judgment that could only be made by a human pilot rather than an automated system.
All passengers were unharmed, and the flight continued without further incident.
The news comes after the singer revealed he contracted an eye infection while in France in the summer of 2024, which left him blind in his right eye – a situation he’s described as ‘devastating.’
However, Sir Elton is determined to remain optimistic about his long-term prospects.
‘It’s been devastating. Because I lost my right eye and my left eye’s not so good, the last 15 months have been challenging for me because I haven’t been able to see anything, watch anything, read anything,’ the music icon told Variety.
But he added: ‘I’ve had the most incredible life, and there is hope. I’ve just gotta be patient that someday science will help me with this one. Once they help me with this one, I’ll be fine.
‘It’s exactly like the AIDS situation. You mustn’t give up hope, you must be stoic, you must be strong and you must always try and batter the door down to try and improve things.’
David Furnish, Elton’s husband, has also retained an optimistic outlook and is hopeful that a scientific breakthrough could prove crucial for the restoration of the chart-topping star’s sight.
He revealed that ‘there’s been some improvements in his left eye’ with treatments they’ve pursued as they continue to explore options, but ‘because there’s damage to the retina in his right eye, retinas don’t heal naturally, so it’s an area of emerging science.’
Sir Elton also shared how his celebrity pals have kept his spirits lifted – including Sir Paul McCartney, who FaceTimes him – alongside his ‘wonderful family’.
‘The love I’ve received from him and from Pete Townshend and Mick Jagger and people like that have been amazing. Or you get an email from Keith Richards saying, “Hello, darling, how you doing? You know we love you,” and that’s it, but it just makes my day.’
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