Flock of birds fly past landing plane at S’pore Airshow rehearsal, incident avoided

Birds fly past plane making landing after rehearsal for Singapore Airshow 

Spectators at the Singapore Airshow rehearsal on 1 Feb witnessed a visual treat as a flock of birds flew past a plane making a landing after a morning session.

The sight was captured by several photographers present at the scene.

Fortunately, no bird strike incident occurred, which the photographers attributed to the well-trained pilot.

Flock of birds fly past plane in opposite direction at Changi

One of the photographers, 60-year-old David Tan, told MS News that the incident occurred at 10.15am.

According to him, the Jupiter Aerobatic Team of the Indonesian Air Force had been performing a rehearsal for the upcoming Singapore Airshow 2026.

They returned from the skies over the Changi Exhibition Centre and performed landings at Changi Airport.

As the final plane made the landing approach, a large flock of Asian openbill storks suddenly appeared from the opposite direction.

“The flock came from nowhere,” Mr Tan said, attributing their presence to migration.

He wasn’t sure how close the birds got to the plane, though it looked near from his perspective on the ground.

Mr Tan told MS News that the pilot assessed the situation accordingly and avoided an incident, which he attributed to competent training.

Another photographer, Andrew Hunt, said that the camera lens makes it seem as though the birds were closer than they actually were.

He observed that there were four other similar aircraft at the time, which had “no need to avoid” the birds.

Nonetheless, Mr Hunt similarly expressed a general confidence in the skills of the pilots.

“The pilots knew what they were doing,” wrote the photographer in his Facebook post.

Singapore Airshow spokesperson says bird-scaring measures continuously conducted

A spokesperson for the Singapore Airshow told MS News that they were unable to confirm the distance between the aircraft and the birds.

“However, the aircraft and pilot were not at any risk and therefore no incident was reported,” they said.

The spokesperson also stated that bird-scaring measures are continuously conducted, and that both Air Traffic Control and pilots are aware of bird migratory seasons.

The participating pilots are also provided the information during briefings.

Also read: S’pore photographer captures incredible shot of heron flying alongside Chinese fighter jet at Changi

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Featured image adapted from David Tan on Facebook and Andrew Hunt on Facebook.