This is the moment an otter and a rat smuggled in a passenger’s hand luggage sparked panic after they ran free on a flight from Bangkok – with the rat savagely biting one of the crew members on the hand.
Shocked passengers noticed a giant albino rat with glistening red eyes when they walked to the bathroom on the Airbus A320 flying to Taiwan yesterday afternoon.
Flustered air hostesses searched the plane and noticed a second wild creature – a foot-long otter under a seat.
Footage shows the otter rolling about on the floor by one of the seats before crew members frantically tried to resolve the situation, with passengers cowering in their seats as they watched the chaos unfold.
The crew can be seen tying up a black bag that appears to have at least one of the animals inside it.
A frightened passenger can be seen trying to avoid the otter as it moves around on the floor. The otter rolls about on the carpet before it is captured by cabin crew
The 30cm long otter that caused pandemonium on the flight
The otter is then shown moving about in a container at the airport in Taiwan before it is transported.
Shockingly, a box of 28 live turtles was also found when police searched the plane upon landing in Taipei following the three-hour and 45-minute low-cost flight operated by Vietnamese carrier Viet Jet.
Officials have now launched an investigation into how a Chinese-speaking female passenger allegedly smuggled the creatures through the security checks at the notoriously corrupt Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Thailand.
A shocked passenger who recorded the scene said: ‘The flight took off as scheduled and the pilot ordered the seatbelts could be released. I walked back from the toilet and my friend whispered softly to me, “there’s a rat on the plane”.
‘I was confused so he said again, “pet rat, pet rat, it has a white body and it’s not small”.
Footage shows the rat moving around on the floor by a passenger’s seat. One of the air stewards then makes her way up the aisle as other flyers watch as chaos ensues
‘I told the cabin crew and they checked the plane. That’s when they found the big otter under one of the seats. They kept looking for the white rat and an employee caught the rat. It bit them on the hand while they carried it back to the kitchen at the back of the plane.’
The cabin crew reportedly made an announcement ordering anyone who had brought animals on the plane to make themselves known.
The person filming said that several seats were searched before a Chinese passenger ‘asked for a refund’ and allegedly admitted the animals belonged to her.
Staff then appealed for a passenger who could ‘speak Chinese fluently’ to help them discuss the situation with the woman, who is believed to have bought the creatures from a market in the Thai capital.
The person filming, who did not want to be named, said that ‘every bag’ was searched when the aircraft landed at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
The cabin crew can be seen discussing the incident. They use plastic gloves to tie up a black bag that appears to contain at least one of the animals
Police found a bag that allegedly contained 28 star turtles, a snake, one marmot, two otters and two other unknown rodents. The creatures were seen being removed from the aircraft.
The Taoyuan Branch of the Defense Inspection Department said yesterday that the star turtles will be kept in quarantine and the rest will be sent to Pingtung University of Science and Technology for confirmation before disposal.
Police said the suspect was being questioned and could be fined up to NT$1 million (£25,532) in accordance with the provisions of the Prevention and Control of Animal Infectious Diseases.
Officers said they did not know how the animals were taken on the plane. The passenger who is believed to have smuggled them on the aircraft ‘has not been co-operative’.
Video shows staff at the airport loading containers that are holding the animals from the flight. The otter is then shown moving about in a container at the airport before it is transported
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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