Mouse On Plane Sends Nepal-Bound Flight Back To Bangkok

KATMANDU, Nepal — Airline officials say flight attendants spotted a mouse in the pantry of a Boeing 757, prompting Nepal Airlines to cancel a Bangkok-bound flight, evacuate passengers and tow the jet to a hangar to hunt for the rodent.

Airline spokesman Raju K.C. says the mouse is believed to have boarded the plane at the Katmandu airport Monday through a food catering truck.

He says the animal darted out of the pantry toward the back of the plane, where it remained unnoticed by the few passengers who had boarded. The cabin crew unsuccessfully hunted the mouse and then decided to cancel the flight and perform a more thorough search.

The airline spokesman says the plane will not be used again until the mouse is found.

Comments

[floodberg]

11:46 AM on 09/06/2011

The Mouse that Roared!! 

[strafem2]

11:18 AM on 09/06/2011

TSA needs to require ALL MICE go through security screening NOW !!!!

[SallySassalot]

01:36 AM on 09/06/2011

A mouse. What a waste of fuel. It's a tiny creature. Who cares?! If they're that upset charge it fare!

[southingtonian]

01:31 AM on 09/06/2011

Hantavirus, spread thru inhalation of infected dried mouse feces, is a serious respiratory disease. They did as they should, to protect the passengers and crew from potential exposure.

[Waldimore]

11:28 AM on 09/06/2011

Thank you. Rodents are nasty. The stale air in a plane is bad enough without adding the possibility of Hantavirus. Why do people act like they are harmless little creatures? They're not by a long shot. Also, the plane was boarding and had not taken off. I doubt much fuel was wasted.

[southingtonian]

07:13 PM on 09/06/2011

not all populations of mice are vectors for hantavirus, fortunately. it has not spread to ohio yet; too cold. but with climate change, it may be just a matter of time. forewarned is forearmed. this incident is an opportunity for that.

[popart]

04:39 PM on 09/05/2011

a mouse...for pity sake a mouse...you divert a 757 because of a mouse on board....what next..a spider on board...oh my god divert the plane...

[southingtonian]

01:29 AM on 09/06/2011

google Nepal, hantavirus. It's spread thru inhaling infected mouse feces. Serious respiratory disease. They did right.

[Waldimore]

11:30 AM on 09/06/2011

Spiders can be poisonous and deadly. Lot of ignorant people around. Learn something before being so dismissive.

[charon]

01:17 PM on 09/05/2011

The mouse's natural predator is the snake. They should have released some snakes into the plane to hunt down the little rodents. I would suggest non-venomous ones, although pit vipers, with their infra-red detecting tools, would be most effective in locating it. Once they get the mouse, if they can't find all the snakes, they might need to get some mongooses on board to hunt the snakes. Mongooses are quite good at taking down snakes, poisonous or not. If the mongooses haven't found the snakes and the snakes haven't found the mouse by the time the plane is due to get in flight, you need to get John Cleese and Peter Sellers to play the flight attendants to keep the mousehunt concealed from the passengers while in flight so they don't panic.

[Your name here]

06:13 PM on 09/05/2011

Sounds OK to me.

[floodberg]

11:49 AM on 09/06/2011

Nathan Lane and Lee Evans are on the job!

[galegal]

12:25 PM on 09/05/2011

This gives me a new respect for Nepal Airlines. First I should say that I was not previously aware of their existance. Non the less, I have flown on many aircraft that had mice on board. At the time my main response was, 'eeeeeeeek!' when upon opening a storage compartment one of the furry creatures came darting out and ran up my flying partner's skirt. Another time a baggage handler stood in the cargo compartment forward of my lower deck galley and pitched some of the hapless creatures out onto the tarmac after their carrier came open. These were being shipped to a lab for research so perhaps they made a deliberate escape. 'Not sure he got them all.
This may sound like a funny story but the fact is that mouse like to gnaw and there are many electrical wires on an aircraft that you do not want them chewing on. So long as they stick to the ones that control the call buttons, all is well.

[Waldimore]

11:34 AM on 09/06/2011

Well that pretty much made me sick. The idea that mice might be gnawing wires on a plane that could cause real problems flying. And here I thought only about the hantavirus and respiratory infection. So mice aren't the harmless little creatures some on these boards are making them out to be. It appears their presence can wreak real havoc.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

11:44 AM on 09/05/2011

he barely squeaked by the TSA pat(or should i say cat;-)down

[Heidi Dietrich]

10:21 AM on 09/05/2011

Now THIS is a slow news day. A mouse on a plane requires an article? Geez. And what brain child thought of going hunting for a mouse? It's not like it's going to come out to see you and say "Here I am, pass me the cheese!"

[karen lyons kalmenson]

11:44 AM on 09/05/2011

for goudas sakes;-D

[floodberg]

11:53 AM on 09/06/2011

KarenLyonsKalmenson, faved again!  Someone's in a punny mood!

[fumes]

09:34 AM on 09/05/2011

over-reaction?

i think not:

it's obvious that mouse..

1. did not buy a ticket

2. did not go through the scanner

3. and helped himself to all the good stuff w/o asking!

[zigyboo]

10:45 AM on 09/05/2011

THAT is funny! I wish I could give you an lol badge. ;)

[doughertyhan]

02:20 PM on 09/05/2011

Lol. very funny..on a serious note though, as much as I love mice, they do carry disease so heaven knows what may have happened if this one got into a different country or got droppings all over the plane.

[syndibird]

08:25 PM on 09/05/2011

We homo sapiens carry more disease when we travel than a mouse. It was ONE mouse... come on now! Go hide under your bed now..but watch out for bedbugs....