'America, Heck Yeah!': Bald Eagle Checked by Security at Airport in North Carolina
A bald eagle was spotted being brought through security at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina on Monday, August 22.
Video from Elijah Burke shows the eagle perched on its handler’s hand and flapping its wings as it was screened at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint.
TSA Southeast said their “special guest was Clark the Eagle with the World Bird Sanctuary, who decided to give his wings a break and fly commercial.”
“Clark is trained to spread his wings, and even showed off a bit during screening,” they added.
According to World Bird Sanctuary — a non-profit based in Valley Park, Missouri — Clark was hatched at its conservation department in 2002 when they were breeding then-endangered bald eagles to be released into the wild. He is now “one of only four bald eagles who travel to fly at different venues throughout the United States,” they said.
Though Clark’s siblings were successfully released into the wild, scale deformities on Clark’s feet put him at risk of “things like frostbite and loss of toes,” making him non-releasable, World Bird Sanctuary said. Instead, Clark joined the sanctuary’s “Eagle Flight Team” and, after a period of intensive training, began his career at St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball games, taking flight during the National Anthem, they said. Credit: Elijah Burke via Storyful
Video Transcript
[CHATTER]
ELIJAH BURKE: Bruh. (SINGING) America, heck yeah.
[CHATTER]
Bruh. (SINGING) America, heck yeah.
[CHATTER]
Bruh. (SINGING) America, heck yeah.
[CHATTER]
Bruh. (SINGING) America, heck yeah.
[CHATTER]
Bruh. (SINGING) America, heck yeah.
[CHATTER]
Bruh. (SINGING) America, heck yeah.
[CHATTER]
Bruh. (SINGING) America, heck yeah.
