Birds unexpectedly surrounded the plane, and the pilots had to make an emergency landing: the reason surprised everyone 

There are moments in every person’s life that change their view of the world forever. I am a pilot with many years of experience, and the sky has always been my home. But one day, during what seemed like a routine flight, something happened that I will never forget for the rest of my life. This event shook not only me, but also everyone who was on board at the time.

We took off under clear skies, with a favorable forecast and a full cabin of passengers. No signs of trouble. Everything was going according to plan.

Suddenly I noticed a strange movement outside the window. A few birds flew dangerously close to the plane. I tensed up, but didn’t think much of it yet. But just a minute later, there were more. Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands! They surrounded the plane in a dense ring, preventing it from moving freely.

I tried to change course, but the birds followed us, as if deliberately trying to trap the plane. Passengers screamed in fear as they saw the feathered mass beating against the windows.

I contacted air traffic control, received permission for an emergency route change, and headed for the nearest airport. But the flock wouldn’t let us go. On the contrary, the birds became even more aggressive — some even collided directly with the fuselage.

Then the worst happened: one large bird went straight into the engine. There was an explosion, flames burst out, and the engine failed. It was becoming harder and harder to control the plane.

At that moment I realized the only chance to save the people was to ditch in the water. Only after the emergency landing did specialists inspect the aircraft and understand why the birds had behaved so strangely. See more in the first comment 

We hit the water hard, with a powerful impact, but the plane stayed upright. The evacuation was carried out under extremely difficult conditions, many passengers were in shock, but fortunately no one was seriously injured.

Rescuers and the coast guard arrived to help, rescuing the people and driving the flock away.

The next day the investigation began. The investigators thoroughly examined every inch of the plane until they reached the cargo hold.

There they found several strange crates. When they opened them, the experts were shocked: inside were exotic birds — rare species being smuggled.

When the crates were damaged during the flight and the birds began sending out distress calls, a wild flock outside heard their cries. The natural instinct to save their fellow birds gathered a true army of feathered defenders around the plane.