Friday, June 3, 2011

Baby rats found on Qantas jet

Baby rats found on Qantas jet

Australian airline Qantas was forced to ground a plane after flight attendants found five rats in the cabin just minutes before passengers were due to board, it said yesterday.

The baby rodents were discovered on a Boeing 767 that was due to leave Sydney for Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman said, adding that an investigation was under way.

"We don't know how they got there. The aircraft was at the gate for some time before departure, and we are investigating," she told AFP.

"It is a rare occurrence. We have no record of it ever happening before."

The rats were found in the emergency medical-equipment storage area during a routine safety check, and the plane was immediately grounded.

Passengers were transferred to another aircraft, while staff "disposed of the animals".

Engineers inspected the plane on Wednesday but found no damage to the wiring systems, and the air- craft was due back in service yesterday, added the spokesman.

Qantas has been dogged by a series of recent set-backs, including one earlier this week when a Boeing 747 made an unscheduled stop in New Caledonia after running low on fuel on its new Australia-Dallas/Fort Worth service.

~News courtesy of Omy~

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