Stowaway squirrel grounds jet; I stay home
(From cnn.com)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Pilots on American Airlines Boeing 777 heard scratching in cockpit ceiling
• Tokyo to Dallas flight made emergency landing in Honolulu
• Stowaway squirrel trapped and removed
• The 202 human passengers got hotel rooms, new flights
HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- An American Airlines flight made an unscheduled landing after pilots heard something skittering about in the wire-laden space over the cockpit.
The airline blamed the emergency landing of the Tokyo-Dallas flight with 202 passengers on a stowaway squirrel.
"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," said John Hotard, spokesman for the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline.
He said pilots feared the animal would chew through wiring or cause other problems.
"So, as a precaution, we diverted," Hotard said.
Once on the ground late Friday, the Boeing 777's human passengers were put up in hotel rooms and later rebooked on other flights.
State and federal agriculture and wildlife officials boarded the plane, set traps and captured the eastern gray squirrel.
Hotard said the plane had flown to Tokyo from New York before the Dallas flight.
Honolulu, however, proved to be the squirrel's final destination. Fearing it might have been carrying rabies, authorities had the rodent killed.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed unless your name is Beowulf Jones.
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The entry I wrote yesterday wouldn't post at all last night (over the course of a few hours) and jerkjournal has given up restoring that draft, so I'll summarize:
I sent everyone on myspace a squirrel greetin' for Valentine's Day.
If you're on there, the picture, salutation and, yes, even the language were all specifically picked out JUST FOR YOU!
Hope you enjoyed it (as well as the day, itself).
Sooooooo there was, just as predicted, snow then rain then ice then more snow, so I stayed home.
And, tuning in to News 12 today, I'm hearing: "We're seeing a few spinouts on the LIE..."
So I'm staying home today, too.
(Going to work at 5, though.)
SO!
What with Monday off, I now have a SIX DAY WEEKEND!
...which I think is pretty nifty.
Out of this opportunity, I'll write at least one paper and record at least one Beowulf Jones song. Yes, that's right: at least one BJ tune. teeheeheeharharhar
More as it happens.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Pilots on American Airlines Boeing 777 heard scratching in cockpit ceiling
• Tokyo to Dallas flight made emergency landing in Honolulu
• Stowaway squirrel trapped and removed
• The 202 human passengers got hotel rooms, new flights
HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- An American Airlines flight made an unscheduled landing after pilots heard something skittering about in the wire-laden space over the cockpit.
The airline blamed the emergency landing of the Tokyo-Dallas flight with 202 passengers on a stowaway squirrel.
"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," said John Hotard, spokesman for the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline.
He said pilots feared the animal would chew through wiring or cause other problems.
"So, as a precaution, we diverted," Hotard said.
Once on the ground late Friday, the Boeing 777's human passengers were put up in hotel rooms and later rebooked on other flights.
State and federal agriculture and wildlife officials boarded the plane, set traps and captured the eastern gray squirrel.
Hotard said the plane had flown to Tokyo from New York before the Dallas flight.
Honolulu, however, proved to be the squirrel's final destination. Fearing it might have been carrying rabies, authorities had the rodent killed.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed unless your name is Beowulf Jones.
--------------------------------------------------
The entry I wrote yesterday wouldn't post at all last night (over the course of a few hours) and jerkjournal has given up restoring that draft, so I'll summarize:
I sent everyone on myspace a squirrel greetin' for Valentine's Day.
If you're on there, the picture, salutation and, yes, even the language were all specifically picked out JUST FOR YOU!
Hope you enjoyed it (as well as the day, itself).
Sooooooo there was, just as predicted, snow then rain then ice then more snow, so I stayed home.
And, tuning in to News 12 today, I'm hearing: "We're seeing a few spinouts on the LIE..."
So I'm staying home today, too.
(Going to work at 5, though.)
SO!
What with Monday off, I now have a SIX DAY WEEKEND!
...which I think is pretty nifty.
Out of this opportunity, I'll write at least one paper and record at least one Beowulf Jones song. Yes, that's right: at least one BJ tune. teeheeheeharharhar
More as it happens.