A passenger plane was forced to remain grounded for days in Portugal after over 100 hamsters broke free from their cages and ran riot throughout the aircraft.
According to Portuguese media, the TAP Airlines Airbus A321 departed from Lisbon to the Azores island of Ponta Delgada with hamsters, ferrets and birds put in cages in the cargo compartment.
The passenger plane arrived on the island on November 13, however, the staff was left shocked when they found out that the cages meant to keep the hamsters locked were broken.
It was later revealed that as many as 132 hamsters escaped from the cages and made their way throughout the aircraft.
The animals were part of a delivery intended for a pet shop, along with the ferrets and birds.
While the other animals and birds remained in their cages, the dozens of hamsters had broken free and roamed around the Airbus A321, which has the capacity to carry about 200 passengers, for days.
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Consequently, the passenger plane was grounded for four days as staff continued to locate and catch the over 100 hamsters freely roaming around the aircraft.
The airport staff later successfully caught the last one on the fourth day of the arrival of the TAP Airlines flight.
The plane later made its ferry flight, a flight without passengers, back to Lisbon where it is set to undergo a thorough inspection.
Several alleged photos and videos of handlers were later shared on social media including one showing some of the hamsters scurrying around inside the aircraft’s baggage hold.
Another image showed handlers pulling a hamster out of a crevasse in the plane’s infrastructure.
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