New Delhi, September 23, 2024: A Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flight from Oslo, Norway to Malaga, Spain was forced to make an emergency landing in Copenhagen, Denmark after a passenger discovered a live mouse in their in-flight meal. As a precautionary measure, the aircraft was diverted on Wednesday. According to SAS spokesperson Oystein Schmidt, the safety of passengers and crew prompted the diversion. Upon landing, the plane underwent a thorough inspection to locate the mouse, BBC reported.
According to the BBC, airlines usually have strict restrictions about rodents on board, since they can chew through electrical wiring.
Airline spokesperson Oystein Schmidt said, ”This is something that happens extremely rarely. We have established procedures for such situations, which also include a review with our suppliers to ensure this does not happen again.”
One passenger, Jarle Borrestad, wrote on Facebook: ”Believe it or not. A lady next to me at SAS opened the food and jumped a mouse out. Now we have turned around and landed at CPH [Copenhagen Airport] for flight changes.”
He further recalled taking precautions, pulling his socks over his pant legs to prevent the mouse from crawling up. Despite the shocking discovery, he noted that fellow passengers remained remarkably calm, showing no signs of stress. After a brief delay of a few hours in Copenhagen, the passengers continued their journey to Malaga on a replacement aircraft according to the reports published in ndtv.com.
This incident follows another rodent-related disruption last week, where a train service in southern England was stopped mid-journey due to two squirrels refusing to leave the carriage.
A Great Western Railway spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the 0854 Reading to Gatwick was terminated at Redhill after a couple of squirrels boarded the train at Gomshall without tickets, breaching railway byeclaws. We attempted to remove them at Redhill, but one refused to leave and was returned to Reading to bring an end to this nutty tail.”
