A340 vs. The Squirrels

Here's an amusing story from the 27 April 2004 issue of Flight International that you may enjoy:

Squirrels' Bid for freedom leaves aircraft on tarmac
Tolga Ozbeck
Istanbul

An Airbus A340-300 of THY Turkish Airlines has been grounded for a week at a cost of some $1 million after a cageload of squirrels escaped inside the aircraft.

The aircraft (TC-JI) is at the THY Technic facility at Istanbul Ataturk Airport where it is now undergoing a C-check during which it was hoped the 36 missing squirrels would be found.

The incident occurred on 12 April when a cargo of 15 cages of squirrels was uploaded in Beijing for carriage to Rome via Istanbul. But at Istanbul two of the animals were seen in the cabin by flight attendants.

An inspection revealed that one of the cages was open and 40 squirrels were missing.

The aircraft was taken to the hangar and gas was used to try to kill the squirrels--but by last week only four had been found, raising safety and health fears.