A mouse on an airplane going from London to San Francisco delayed the International Flight for four hours on Wednesday night, March 1, 2017. Needless to say, passengers were not pleased. They had settled in their seats on a plane at Heathrow Airport when they got the news that a little mouse was among them. That meant they couldn't take off with the mouse onboard. For the first few minutes people thought it was funny and said the mouse probably didn't have a passport. Then the passengers realized it was no joking matter when they were told the plane could not leave the airport with a mouse on the plane.
Mouse spotted
The airline made the decision not to fly the plane after somebody saw a mouse crawl under one of the doors. Passengers were kept in their seats on the plane for about 15 minutes. After they couldn't find the mouse in that time period, passengers were told to get off the airplane and return to the terminal. British Airways looked for another Boeing 777.
After a four-hour delay, British Airways was ready to fly another plane. The pilots left the original plane behind for someone in maintenance to locate the mouse and clean the aircraft. The airline apologized for the delay, and even though passengers were exhausted when they arrived in San Francisco, they were very thankful that they had a safe trip.
Why British Airways took action
Airlines are forbidden from flying in cases like this. While it was inconvenient for the passengers, it was dangerous to fly the plane with a mouse on board. It would have been dangerous for the crew, passengers, and the plane. The mouse was a tiny one, but it was still a rodent that could have gnawed through wires and made the plane crash before it reached its destination.
If the mouse had crawled under someone's feet, it could have caused panic among the other passengers. If the mouse had gotten into the food supply, there would have been a health issue. No one would have been able to eat on the long international flight.
While this might seem like an odd case, this is not the first time an airline has delayed a flight because a mouse was spotted on the plane. When records were checked, they showed that this has happened several times before. Many times, the mouse was found on international flights going to the United States.
