3 min readNew DelhiMar 4, 2021 10:38 AM IST
First published on: Mar 3, 2021 at 06:17 PM IST
In a bizarre incident, a passenger plane in Sudan was forced to make an emergency landing after the pilot was attacked by an unruly passenger — in this case, a cat!
The flight, from Khartoum International Airport en-route to Qatar’s capital Doha, had to be diverted back to Sudan when the feline, an ‘unregistered passenger’, was spotted inside the pilot’s cabin. According to local Al Rakoba, the incident took place on Tarco Aviation’s flight 3T-234, barely half-an-hour into its scheduled departure.
Likely alarmed by its flying experience and the people around in unfamiliar surroundings, the cat became offensive and turned on the flight captain, resisting all attempts to catch it. As it led to an unusual situation, the pilot decided to head back to Khartoum to safely remove the offender.
While one may think that the offender was an escapee from a passenger’s on-board belongings, it seems he was more likely to be a stray. According to information obtained by Al-Sudani, the plane, a Boeing 737, was stationary in the hangar overnight for cleaning and preparations. It is believed that the feral cat might have crept onboard and found a comfortable spot to rest, and only ‘hijacked’ the cockpit mid-air.
However, this is not the only cat-astrophe that has occurred recently. Earlier last month, a cat wreaked havoc inside a cockpit in Israeli airlines company, EL AL’s plane. After infiltrating the cabin, it gnawed on the interiors damaging several plastic encasements and handles.
According to Newsweek, in July, last year, a cat was discovered on a military plane that arrived at Bangor International Airport in Maine. However, it was up for flying and didn’t mind when it was found by the crew of the cargo plane hiding behind crates onboard.
Even though it’s bizarre, it’s not the first time that a cat attacked a flight captain mid-air. In 2004, a Brussels Airlines pilot became a victim of a cat attack when a runaway feline ran wild in the cockpit. According to the Mirror, the animal had reportedly escaped from its airline-approved pet carrier and began trotting near the cabin. It broke into the cockpit when a crew member opened the door to serve some refreshments.
The feline passenger is believed to a feral cat and not a pet that escaped from the cabin. 
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