Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) said one of its flights had to make an emergency landing on Wednesday after a rat escaped from a passenger’s on-board meal.
The plane was flying from Oslo, the capital of Norway, to Malaga, Spain, and was forced to make an emergency landing in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Airline spokesman Oystein Schmidt told AFP the diversion was in line with company procedures because the furry stowaways posed a security risk.
Passengers on that flight were later flown to Malaga on another plane.
Airlines often have strict limits on rodents on planes to prevent wires from being chewed through.
“It rarely happens,” Mr. Schmidt said.
“We have procedures in place for situations like this, which also include reviews with our suppliers to ensure this does not happen again.”
Jaler Borestad experienced the incident firsthand, telling BBC News in a recorded video that the rat escaped from a food box opened by the woman sitting next to him on the plane. .
Borestad said the situation was very calm and people were “not stressed at all.”
However, he admitted that he did put his socks on his pants so rats wouldn’t crawl up his legs.
Borestad said that while the flight was rerouted, it only added a few hours to the journey.
This is the second rodent-related travel incident in a week.
Train services in southern England have to be halted Two squirrels boarded the carriage One of them refused to get out of the car.
