Scandinavian Airlines mouse: Plane forced to divert after mouse jumps out of in-flight meal
A Scandinavian Airlines flight was forced to divert after a mouse crawled out of a passenger’s 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.
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.”
Mr Borrestad told BBC News that the situation was very calm and that people "were not stressed at all". However, he admitted that he did put his socks over his trousers so the mouse did not crawl up his legs.
The passengers were later flown to Malaga on a different aircraft. Airlines ban rodents on board to prevent electrical wiring being chewed through.
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.”
In 2017, a British Airways flight at Heathrow airport bound for San Francisco failed to take off after a mouse was spotted onboard. After a four-hour delay, a replacement aircraft was found. It is thought to have cost BA about £250,000.