Snakes And Hamsters And... Squirrels? What's Next?

An American Airlines 777 (file photo below) made an unscheduled stop in Honolulu last Friday to deplane a rather unusual passenger. It seems the crew heard strange noises behind the panels above the jet's cockpit; it sounded to them as though something alive was scampering about in a compartment full of sensitive wiring.

Airline spokesman John Hotard told USA Today, "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. So, as a precaution, we diverted."

The jet was enroute from Tokyo to Dallas, TX with 202 pax. After landing, the carrier put all its human passengers up in local hotels and rebooked them on later flights.

Meanwhile, state and federal agents (agricultural and wildlife types) boarded the jet and took down the stowaway -- which happened to be a squirrel.

The airlines says the jet had flown directly from New York to Tokyo prior to the incident flight, which begs the question: How is it that a squirrel can find its way aboard a passenger jet... in February... in New York? I've never seen any trees on an airline parking ramp. And if it came from off the airport, how did it get through security? Oh, that's right, no bags...

Setting those questions aside for a moment, there is a serious side to this story. After all, investigators believe it was a fire in the jet's overhead compartment which brought down Swissair Flight 111 off the coast of Nova Scotia in late 1998.

Canada's Transport Safety Board concluded the design of the MD-11's air conditioning system was such that the air flow in the comparment kept smoke and fumes out of the cockpit and cabin area -- and crew unaware -- until the fire was out of control. It's easy to understand why the AA flight crew wanted to set down early.

Authorities say the species of the stowaway squirrel is indigenous to North America, but has found its way lately to South Africa, England and Italy.

We've actually never seen a squirrel aboard a domestic flight much less a flight abroad --who knew they liked to travel so much?

Although authorities were unsure of the stowaway's intentions they took no chances; the poor little guy was euthanized. A local laboratory is examining the remains to determine if the fluffy-tailed rodent was carrying any diseases such as rabies.

No one is sure exactly where or how the squirrel got aboard the jet, and we can only speculate. Perhaps it just wanted to see Mt. Fuji, or maybe it was going on vacation to the Orient and forgot something at home.

However it happened, we're pretty sure the trip didn't turn out as planned.

The saddest part of the story? Nobody told the little fellow most airlines no longer serve nuts onboard their planes...

FMI: www.aa.com, www.squirrels.org