...and the flying pig saga continues:
=====
Reuters
Monday October 30 5:51 PM ET
U.S. Officials Investigate Case of Flying
Pig
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration
(news - web sites) is convinced that pigs can fly. Now it wants to
know how and why.
The FAA said on Monday its investigators are trying to sort through
a bizarre series of events that allowed a 300-pound pig to fly
first-class aboard a nonstop USAirways (NYSE:U - news) flight
from Philadelphia to Seattle.
In the rare case of a pig that actually flew, the porker boarded
USAirways Flight 107 on Oct. 17 with its two women owners and
198 other human passengers, and slept for most of the six-hour
flight.
But the animal went hog wild as the Boeing 757 taxied to the
terminal in Seattle. The squealing beast ran through the plane, discharging feces as it went, and
tried to get into the cockpit before taking refuge in the aircraft's food galley.
The pig was last seen being hauled off the plane and into an airport elevator by its two owners and
another passenger.
``It will not happen again,'' promised USAirways spokesman David Castelveter.
FAA investigators were expected to examine the flight's passenger list and interview every crew
member on board the plane.
``We'd like to know how a 300-pound pig flew first class,'' said FAA spokesman Jim Peters.
``We're looking into all aspects -- safety and compliance and sanitation. We want to know what the
company's animal policy is.''
The Philadelphia Daily News, which first reported the strange tale, said the owners got permission
to take their unruly pet aboard the flight by producing a doctor's note that described the pig as a
13-pound (5.8 kg) ``service animal,'' like a seeing-eye dog. They also bought the pig a ticket.
At first, flight attendants tried to stow the pig in the rear of the plane but found that it blocked an
emergency exit. So they opted to wedge the animal between seats 1A and 1C in the first-class
section instead.
USAirways said it will allow passengers to board with dogs, cats and birds as free baggage, but
only if the animals are small enough to fit under a seat in a container. There are exceptions for
larger canines that serve as guide dogs for the blind, however. |
