Summary:
Over 130 hamsters escaped and grounded a TAP flight for five days.
The flight was transporting hamsters, ferrets, and caged birds to the Azores.
Airport staff discovered the hamster boxes were empty upon unloading.
The Airbus A321neo underwent inspections for potential damage from the rodents.
This incident is part of a series of unusual animal escape stories in aviation.
A Wild Flight Experience
More than 130 hamsters caused a significant disruption, grounding a TAP Air Portugal flight for five days after they escaped their transport boxes and ran rampant inside the cargo hold. The flight was en route from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada, located on Portugal’s Sao Miguel Island, carrying not only hamsters but also ferrets and some caged birds destined for a local pet store.
The Great Escape
Upon unloading the plane, airport staff were shocked to discover that the hamster transport boxes were empty. Consequently, the aircraft had to remain grounded as all 132 hamsters needed to be recaptured, raising concerns that the rodents could damage the aircraft’s electrical wiring.
It took maintenance crews until Sunday to locate the last 16 hamsters, after which the Airbus A321neo was declared free of rodents and cleared to return to Lisbon on a ferry flight without passengers.
Safety Checks and Regulations
Following the incident, TAP Air Portugal announced that the plane would undergo thorough inspections to check for any damage caused by the hamsters’ sharp teeth. As with all rodents, hamsters must gnaw on hard materials to prevent their continuously growing teeth from becoming too long.
Reports indicated that passengers and their luggage were also on board the flight. Upon landing, baggage teams noticed that the hamster boxes were damaged and that some rodents had escaped. Interestingly, these boxes were deemed non-compliant for a separate flight from Lisbon, yet they were allowed on the flight to Ponta Delgada.
Previous Animal Incidents
This incident echoes other peculiar animal-related occurrences in aviation, such as a horse that forced a cargo jet to return to New York last year and a bear that escaped on an Iraqi Airways flight earlier in 2023. Moreover, a giant albino rat caused chaos on a VietJet flight after escaping from a passenger's luggage.
TAP has yet to comment on this unusual event, which has certainly captured the attention of animal lovers and aviation enthusiasts alike.
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