Terror cat attack in a Belgian plane !
(a true story which took place last month?)


A few minutes after flight SN 2905 took off from Brussels heading to Vienna, a passenger discovered that her cat had escaped from its box. Several fellow passengers saw the cat leaving but could not stop it.

As it was 1 PM, flight staff was preparing lunch trays and did not notice immediately the cat?s escape.

When bringing lunch trays to the pilots, one of the stewardesses mentioned the incident, while the cat used this opportunity to enter the cockpit?

A cat strolling though the passenger?s cabin is not a problem, but entering a cockpit, this tiny animal is supposed to eventually cause chaos (attacking the pilots, putting its paw on a control device, etc?), specially as it turned pretty aggressive once discovered.

One of the co-pilots is currently recovering from a scratch as he tried to catch the animal...

The pilots then decided to launch an emergency landing procedure at Brussels airport, as a safety procedure.

Two hours later, after hiring a new plane (!), the 57 passengers were able to take off again and reached their destination, while the "guilty" cat and its owner were left ?stranded? in Brussels.

However it was later admitted by the airline that at no moment the passenger?s and crew?s life were in danger?

I just wonder about the financial cost of this minor incident...

I heard that the owner of the cat is being held responsible: hopefully her insurance will cover it. She should have made sure the cat was locked in its box.
There was a thread here recently about bringing a puppy to the US, and I had to think about this story.

I hope that this lady has a good insurance...

But having an emergency landing because of a cat's scratch... was a bit "too much" (IMO of course!)

Nearly 30 years ago, I took a Pakistan Air at Karachi for Europe. On board, I saw a Pakistan (or Indian?) woman with a huge dog (St.Bernard?) walking through the corridor. When I think of it now, I say to myself this could not have been possible! Was I dreaming?

It may not have been the passenger's fault...in the French Belgian papers that covered the story shortly after it happened, a few people commented that they had seen a young child poking at the cat's carrier just before takeoff and it was possible that he unlatched the carrier.

>I just wonder about the financial cost of this minor incident...<

And if the cat had leaped onto the neck of the pilot during landing, what would you say?

I think it would still be the owner's responsibility. I read that they made the emergency landing because the cat had crawled behind the cockpit, where they couldn't get it out, and was setting off alarm lights.

I once heard a story about someone stepping into dog mess in the KLM business class. He was wearing socks, and was not amused; he gave his socks to the owner of the dog to clean!

The act of accepting personal responsibility is so rarely seen these days. Its always somebody elses fault whne things go wrong.

In all cases, this is the owner's responsibility, should anything happen in the plane.

But I still consider that deciding on an emergency landing was a "too safe" procedure...

Regarding landing procedures, I have been told by airline crews that it is now a 99.9 % computer operated procedure.
However I would understand the pilot's concern regarding the cat's attack as far as potential rabies contamination.