Flight diverted after passenger finds live mouse in meal

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has said one of its flights had to make an emergency landing after a mouse scurried out of a passenger’s in-flight meal on Wednesday.

The aircraft flew from Oslo, Norway’s capital, to Malaga, Spain, and was forced to make an emergency landing in Copenhagen.

Airline spokesperson Oystein Schmidt told the AFP news agency that the diversion was in line with company procedures as the furry stowaway posed a safety risk.

Passengers on the flight were later flown to Malaga on a different aircraft.

Airlines usually have strict restrictions involving rodents on board planes to prevent electrical wiring from being chewed through.

“This is something that happens extremely rarely,” Mr Schmidt said.

“We have established procedures for such situations, including a review with our suppliers to ensure this does not happen again.”

Jarle Borrestad experienced the incident first-hand, telling the BBC News Channel in a recorded video that the mouse escaped from the box of food that the woman sitting next to him on the flight was opening.

Mr. Borrestad said the situation was calm, and people “were not stressed at all.”

However, he admitted to putting his socks over his trousers so the mouse would not crawl up his legs.

Mr Borrestad said that while the flight was diverted, it only added a few extra hours to the journey.

It is the second rodent-related travel incident in a week.