As a resident of New York City, I have a healthy respect for the combined power of vermin. All you need to do is see one metal dumpster shake to realize that rodents are nothing to be trifled with. Apparently, that’s also a lesson that the airlines of the world have learned, as it turns out that even a single mouse or rat onboard is an immediate no-go.
After all, one of the most important things about a plane is that it works, and a mouse or rat’s tenacious teeth and deep desire to dine on wires stands in direct opposition to that. And so, if you’re unlucky enough to share a plane cabin with one of these little guys, you’re going nowhere fast.
To that end, here are five flights that were stopped dead in their tracks by rodent passengers…
An Alaska Airlines Flight From Oakland to Portland
Pixabay
A flight scheduled to take 110 passengers from Oakland, California to Portland, Oregon was boarding per usual, when an unticketed passenger suddenly cut in line. Specifically, a rat that was spotted jumping from the jetway onto the plane, right along with the usual throng of travelers. If the rat was hoping to head north, it was out of luck. The entire plane was deboarded and rebooked, and the plane was shut down until an exterminator could certify all rat souls had perished.
An Air India Flight From Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam
There’s nothing worse than a delay when you’re already on the tarmac. Unfortunately, the rat at fault in this flight delay wasn’t spotted embarking like the previous one, but only shortly before takeoff. That single gray blur between seats meant nobody was going anywhere. All passengers were forced to return to the terminal and disembark. The plane would eventually take off more than eight hours later, after the rat was removed, the cabin was fumigated and an inspection of important wires was conducted to make sure that none of them had become a snack.
The insult to injury? It was a 6 a.m. flight, meaning everybody onboard was probably already pissed off and/or had somewhere they needed to be that day.
A British Airways Flight From London to San Francisco
Pixabay
If you’re headed from London to San Francisco, you’re already in for a doozy of a travel day. That’s an 11-hour flight when everything goes swimmingly. Like the last entry, the passengers were moments from being on their way when someone spotted a little critter in a doorway. This forced the crew to take to the radio and inform the passengers that they were not permitted to fly with a mouse, to which I’m sure some responded, “Well, I sure would like to.”
A British Airways Flight From London to New York
I’m not sure what it is about British Airways flights that seem to attract so many mice. You’d think they’d choose one with better food. But I digress — this time around, another Heathrow rat attempted to cross the Atlantic, causing an incredible amount of inconvenience in the process. Sadly, there is no investigative reporting on whether it may have been the work of the same rat, who just really hated England. This mouse had a particularly outsized effect, given that the full flight contained 350 passengers, all of whom were informed that they wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
An Air Canada Flight From Ottawa to London
Pixabay
Seriously, I never knew how much of a rat travel hotspot London was. Have we checked under the city for some sort of advanced rat civilization?
In any event, passengers on an Air Canada flight from Ottawa to Heathrow were informed over the PA that “a giant rat has been seen in the overhead lockers, and I need everyone to get off while we try and find it.” Not the most official-sounding announcement I’ve ever heard, from the inclusion of the word “giant” to “we try and find it,” but the message was clear all the same.
Thirty minutes later, the captain apparently approached the gate, like a doctor after an unsuccessful surgery, and gave the negative news with a shake of the head: no plane today.