HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - A fugitive mouse delayed the departure of a Japan-bound
airliner for more than four hours Sunday as
technicians hunted down the potential threat, airline officials said.
A passenger spotted the white mouse running on the floor of the plane on an
initial leg of the Vietnam Airlines flight,
prompting a hunt by about a dozen technicians worried that it could chew through
a vital wire.
The mouse was found in a food storage area and the Boeing 777 was cleared for
takeoff, said Tran Tien Dung, head of the
airline's air safety department.
"This is the first time we experienced something like this," airline spokesman
Nguyen Chan said.
Chan said Vietnamese aviation authorities suspect that a passenger brought the
mouse on board in hand luggage.
Dung said the airline will caution passengers and increase baggage checks to
make sure that no live animals are brought on
board.
The mouse was killed, Dung said
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