In one of the most bizarre circumstances, rodents meant to be transported as air cargo, passengers, and luggage escaped and forced a plane to be grounded.
Escaped Hamsters
The plane had to be grounded, and passengers were told it was because of escaped animals—a lot of them. Officials would later find out that the animals had escaped because their cages did not meet safety standards.
Unpacking The Cargo
The TAP Air Portugal airplane had more than just human passengers on board. There were animals in the cargo hold. When the animals were unpacked from the plane, all of them were fine except for the hamster cargo.
A Package For A Pet Store
Among the animals were ferrets, birds, and the aforementioned hamsters. But once they saw that the 132 hamsters weren’t accounted for, they knew they would have to take drastic measures to ensure everyone’s safety.
The Hamsters Had Escaped Containment
Airport staff realized what had happened after finding that the cargo crates supposed to hold the hamsters were empty and had been reportedly damaged.
Stowaways
The hamsters had damaged the containers enough to get out, which meant that there was only one place they could be—inside the plane. They needed to find the stowaways and take the proper precautions.
Grounded
The plane was immediately grounded and couldn’t take its next flight. With 132 hamsters on the plane, it wouldn’t be easy to round up all of them safely. It was going to be a monumental effort that would span multiple days.
Grounded For Several Days
The tiny hamsters managed to crawl through not only the cargo hold but many parts of the plane. This, along with how many there were, meant the plane would be grounded for almost a week.
Gathering The Hamsters Up
Eventually, the hamsters were all gathered up, with the last 16 caught on the last day. They were carefully put in a new container and loaded onto an Airbus. The original plane had to stay grounded.
An Investigation
Given how many and how long the hamsters had free reign of the plane, investigators will have to examine the plane to make sure that they didn’t compromise its vital components.
The Threat They Pose
The hamsters pose a serious threat to the plane’s safety because it’s their nature to chew. It’s not uncommon for hamsters to chew on cables, but now, imagine that cable is a vital component that keeps a plane in the air.
Not Meeting Standards
After the incident, it was discovered that the hamsters were originally booked on another flight but rejected due to quality concerns. Their cages didn’t meet the appropriate standards.
Ferrying The Hamsters Home
The hamsters needed to return to Lisbon, so the Airbus flew them directly there. With no other passengers, it was a special flight just to deliver the hamsters, who were nearly a week overdue.
Source:
132 hamsters reportedly escaped in the hold of a plane, grounding it for days
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