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Plane forced to make emergency landing after passenger discovers live mouse in her in-flight meal

The Scandinavian Airlines flight was diverted to Oslo after the rodent was discovered

Jane Dalton
Friday 20 September 2024 18:17 EDT
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Passengers described how the rodent scurried out of the food (file photo)
Passengers described how the rodent scurried out of the food (file photo) (AFP via Getty Images)

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A plane was forced to make an emergency landing after a live mouse leapt out of an in-flight meal.

The Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flight, from the Norwegian capital Oslo to Malaga in the south of Spain, was diverted to Copenhagen.

Scandinavian Airlines said the diversion was an established procedure for safety reasons. Airlines ban rodents on board to prevent electrical wiring being chewed through.

The passengers were later flown to Malaga on a different aircraft.

One passenger, Jarle Borrestad, wrote on Facebook: “Believe it or not. A lady next to me here at SAS opened the food and out jumped a mouse. Now we have turned around and landed at CPH [Copenhagen Airport] for flight changes.”

He also used laughing emojis and a photograph of himself smiling, seated next to two women, but he did not say whether the mouse was spotted again after jumping out of the food.

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.”

On Sunday, the pilot of a US Delta Air Lines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a loss of pressure left some passengers reporting bleeding eardrums, headaches and bloody noses.

Panic ensued on the flight from Salt Lake City to Portland, Oregon, and paramedics met passengers at the gate after the plane landed.

The airline apologised.

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