Skittering squirrel forces plane to landHONOLULU - An American Airlines flight made an unscheduled landing in
Honolulu after pilots heard something skittering about in the wire-laden
space over the cockpit. The airline blamed the emergency landing of the
Tokyo-Dallas flight with 202 passengers on a stowaway squirrel.
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"You do not want a varmint up in the wiring areas and what-have-you on an
airplane. You don't want anything up there," said John Hotard, spokesman
for the Ft. Worth, Texas-based airline. He said pilots feared the animal
would chewed through wiring or cause other problems.
"So, as a precaution, we diverted," Hotard said.
Once on the ground late Friday, the Boeing 777's human passengers were put
up in hotel rooms and later rebooked on other flights.
Officers with the state and federal agriculture and wildlife officials
boarded the plane, set traps, and captured the eastern gray squirrel.
The species is native to parts of North America, and has been introduced to
other areas, including South Africa, England and Italy.
It isn't known where or how the squirrel boarded the plan, said Janelle
Saneishi, spokeswoman for the state Agriculture Department.
Hotard said the plane had flown to Tokyo directly from New York before the
Dallas flight.
Honolulu, however, proved to be the squirrel's final destination.
Fearing it may have been carrying rabies, authorities had the rodent
killed, Saneishi said.
The results of lab tests on the animal were still pending Wednesday.