WHEN it comes to aviation, one could argue that hamsters are one of the least likely hazards any aircraft could face – especially a passenger airliner.
That said, it has been claimed that over 100 hamsters grounded an Airbus A321neo of TAP Portugal for four days after they broke loose in the plane’s cargo hold.
Is this true, or a tall tale?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Yes, this is actually true; the incident in question happened in November 2024, and the 132 hamsters were part of a shipment meant for a pet store on the island of Ponta Delgada in the Portuguese Azores.
As cited in a report on the incident in the Portuguese paper Correio da Manhã (CM), the great escape was discovered when airport staff discovered that the pet transport boxes containing the hamsters were damaged and empty while unloading them.
These hamsters were part of a shipment that also included ferrets and birds.
As reported at the time, it took four days for all 132 hamsters to be captured by airport staff, and the airliner had to be flown back to Lisbon without any passengers on board following the incident.
“The aircraft returned to base via ferry flight, a non-commercial flight solely for the purpose of bringing the aircraft to the company's operational base for a more thorough inspection,” wrote CM journalist John Carlos Rodrigues.
So ultimately a case of all’s well that ends well, but given that rodents are known to chew through wires – while hamsters might be far less terrifying than snakes on a plane, they are no less dangerous.
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