Meal-Borne Mouse Forces Diversion

Although the ick factor probably justified it, the surprise appearance of a mouse in a passenger meal on a Scandinavian Airlines flight last week forced an emergency landing for a more practical reason. The wire-chewing rodent posed a legitimate threat to the safety of the flight, so the passengers spent some time in Copenhagen before continuing to Malaga, Spain, from Oslo.

Everyone was just settling in for the flight when a woman opened her meal packet and a mouse "jumped out." Airline spokesman Øystein Schmidt told the Guardian the diversion was "in line with our procedures." He also said they'd had a word with the caterer about their procedures. “This is something that happens extremely rarely,” he said. “We have established procedures for such situations, which also include a review with our suppliers to ensure this does not happen again.”