Stubborn vulture plucked from Ryanair wing before Greece flight

On a Greek island airport, a vulture stubbornly refused to leave the wing of a Ryanair plane undergoing final preparations for takeoff. The Patris newspaper reported Monday that rescuers had to be called in to remove the persistent scavenger, ensuring the aircraft's safety. Images showed the bird safely tucked away inside a firefighter's protective gear, with the creature captured mid-air on the plane's tail wing.

The vulture was eventually placed in a wooden box and transported to the island's natural history museum for preservation.

Birds frequently find themselves in aircraft engines, which can lead to disastrous consequences. Last week, the US National Transportation Safety Board revealed bird remains discovered in the engine of a Ryanair aircraft. The incident occurred during a flight from Greece to Germany on July 10, causing a blade to break off and shatter a cabin window, partially sucking a passenger outside.

Prior to this event, four suspected bird strikes to the plane's engines were reported by flight crews within the preceding year, but no damage was detected during subsequent maintenance checks, according to the report.