Passengers on a British Airways (BA) flight from London Heathrow to San Francisco were delayed for four hours and forced to change planes because a mouse was spotted on board the Boeing…
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Passengers on a British Airways (BA) flight from London Heathrow to San Francisco were delayed for four hours and forced to change planes because a mouse was spotted on board the Boeing 777.
The crew explained to the bemused travellers that planes cannot take off with mice on board and that another flight would be scheduled. This reportedly took four hours 16 minutes.
The mouse has cost BA an estimated 290,000 euros. EU compensation rules mean each of the 200 passengers will be entitled to 600 euros, similar numbers on an incoming flight from California would put the compensation bill alone at around 240,000 euros.
Despite the costs, the airline seems to have seen the funny side, saying:
“We know almost everyone wants to fly with us to San Francisco, but on this occasion, there was one very small customer who we had to send back to the gate.”
“Everyone with two legs is now on their way to California, and we are sorry for the delay.”
While one passenger named Carly described the mood as one of ‘general disbelief’ adding ‘I’m not sure people knew how to react’ others took to social media to joke about their experiences.
Just had my flight to SFO cancelled because of a mouse on board the plane. Could it not get a visa?? #britishairways
— Mark Watt (@markwatt) March 1, 2017
A Haiku
About to fly to SF
There is a mouse on the plane
We all must get off— Midland (@midlandsound) March 1, 2017
I’m going to sell this to the movies. It can be the slightly more pedestrian prequel to snakes on a plane. Maybe this is what lured them on?
— Midland (@midlandsound) March 1, 2017