Unexpected Furry Passenger Causes Mid-Flight Diversion
In an unusual and unexpected incident, a Scandinavian Airlines flight traveling from Oslo, Norway, to Málaga, Spain, was forced to divert to Copenhagen, Denmark, after a mouse made an unwelcome appearance.
According to reports, the rodent scurried out of a passenger’s in-flight meal, causing the flight crew to follow strict safety protocols.
The diversion occurred on Wednesday, September 17, after the mouse was discovered.
“We made a very normal landing (not an emergency landing as some have reported) in Copenhagen to change aircraft and catering,” Scandinavian Airlines spokesperson Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji told USA Today. “This is a fully normal procedure when a rodent is found onboard.”
The airline had to undergo a thorough inspection of the plane, as well as fumigation, to ensure the safety of the passengers and crew.
Rodents are considered a serious safety risk onboard, as they can chew through electrical wiring, leading to potentially dangerous situations.
To avoid such risks, the plane was quickly diverted to Denmark. After the inspection and fumigation, the passengers were transferred to a different aircraft and continued their journey to Málaga.
Despite the diversion, the overall delay added only a couple of hours to the trip, according to various reports.
Calm Amid the Chaos: Passengers Remain Unfazed
Although the presence of a mouse in an in-flight meal might seem like a nightmare scenario, the passengers aboard the Scandinavian Airlines flight remained surprisingly calm.
Jarle Borrestad, who was seated near the woman whose meal contained the rodent, told the BBC that the passengers handled the situation well.
“When the lady next to me opened her meal box, out jumped a mouse,” Borrestad explained, adding that, despite the strange turn of events, “people were not stressed at all.”
However, he admitted to taking some precautions of his own by pulling his socks over his trousers to prevent the mouse from crawling up his legs.
The entire scene was more bizarre than alarming, with Borrestad even joking about the situation on social media, sharing the story with laughter emojis.
Borrestad also confirmed that the diversion to Copenhagen only caused a minor inconvenience to passengers, with a delay of around two and a half hours before they were able to resume their trip to Spain.
The calm response from passengers, combined with the quick action from the airline staff, ensured that the incident didn’t escalate into a more stressful situation.
Safety Measures Trigger Emergency Landing
While the incident may have seemed amusing to those involved, Scandinavian Airlines took the situation seriously.
Øystein Schmidt, another spokesperson for the airline, explained to AFP, via CBS News, that rodents on planes pose a significant risk. “This is something that happens extremely rarely,” Schmidt emphasized, “but in these cases, we have established procedures for such situations.”
Schmidt also assured passengers that the airline is conducting a thorough review with their suppliers to ensure that something like this does not happen again.
Rodents onboard aircrafts are a known risk due to their ability to chew through wires, which could lead to short circuits or even fires.
“Once mice live in an airplane, it’s not only their house, but…uh…their bathroom, too,” a report from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) noted. Beyond hygiene concerns, mouse urine is corrosive to metal, posing an additional risk to aircraft safety.
Other Strange Animal Incidents in the Sky
Although it’s rare to find a mouse in an in-flight meal, this is not the first time that animals have caused a commotion on flights.
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Mouse – British Airways, 2017
In 2017, a British Airways flight from London to San Francisco was delayed when a mouse was spotted onboard the aircraft before takeoff. The sighting forced the airline to find a new plane, causing a four-hour delay and reportedly costing the airline £250,000.
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Angry Wife – Qatar Airways, 2017
In another bizarre incident, a Qatar Airways flight had to divert mid-flight in 2017 for a very different reason. A woman discovered during the flight that her husband was having an affair, which led to an argument so heated that the pilot decided to land the plane early.
These stories highlight that the skies aren’t always as calm as we might expect.
Whether it’s a furry intruder, an unruly passenger, or unexpected personal drama, airline crews are trained to handle strange and unexpected situations with calm and professional responses, ensuring the safety of all on board.
In the case of the Scandinavian Airlines flight, while the mouse’s brief appearance might have added some surprise, it ultimately caused only a minor disruption, and the journey continued smoothly after the diversion.