Pigeon jets home after garden crash landing

A TOP racing pigeon has returned home in the cockpit of a jet – after crash landing in the garden of a pilot.

The bird, nicknamed Biggles, landed in the Yorkshire garden of Jet2.com pilot Captain Mike Smith with an injured wing. Mr Smith's family nursed Biggles back to health and traced his owner after finding contact details around the bird's leg.

After speaking to owner Steve Girdwood, of Sighthill, he got permission to fly the bird in his cockpit from Leeds-Bradford airport to Edinburgh.

Mr Girdwood said: "I was overjoyed to hear from Captain Smith. The pigeon is one of my fastest birds."