Scandinavian Airlines flight diverted after passenger finds live mouse in meal

The flight made an emergency landing in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the rodent posed a safety risk to the flight, one of them being the possibility of it chewing through one of the electrical wires, the BBC reported. 

In Short

• Mouse escaped meal box when passenger opened it
• Others around did not seem stressed, said one of the witnesses
• Airline spokesperson called the event "rare"

A passenger aboard a Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flight found a live mouse in an in-flight meal served to her. The flight, headed to Spain's Malaga from Norway's capital Oslo, was then diverted and made an emergency landing in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The emergency landing was directed as the rodent posed a safety risk to the flight, one of them being the possibility of it chewing through one of the electrical wires, the BBC reported.

The live mouse was found by a passenger in one of the in-flight boxed meals served to passengers. The mouse escaped from the box when the passenger was opening it, Jarle Borrestad, one of the people who witnessed the incident, told the BBC.

Borrestad also added that the passengers around "were not stressed at all" , but he did try to prevent the rodent from crawling up his trousers.

According to airline spokesperson Oystein Schmidt, the occurrence was "rare" and that efforts were being made to ensure it wasn't repeated in future.

"We have established procedures for such situations, which also include a review with our suppliers to ensure this does not happen again," news agency AFP quoted Schmidt as saying.

The diversion and subsequent emergency landing in Copenhagen did not add many extra hours to the journey, he added.

The passengers were flown to Malaga on a different plane.