Air Canada flight delayed by raccoon
Digital Reporter
Friday, May 4, 2018, 2:45 PM - An Air Canada flight in Saskatoon was delayed due to an unwanted furry passenger on Thursday.
A racoon was seeking some cool comfort inside the hose of an air conditioning unit when his slumber was interrupted by the unit being attached to the plane. From there, the racoon ran into the air duct system of the plane, delaying the flight several hours.
Passengers initially realized something was wrong when a group of flight staff and an animal control unit were gathered outside the plane.
Damien Lee, a passenger on the flight from Saskatoon to Toronto, said the flight had two delays.
“The first one was due to baggage, and that was announced, so people understood it was a regular delay,” Lee told The Weather Network. “With the second one, it took about an hour for them to actually announce what was going on.”
The flight was supposed to leave at 2:50 p.m., but didn’t take off until 10 p.m.
Most passengers thought the whole incident was funny rather than frustrating. “There were probably two or three people that were upset, like cussing and saying they’ll never fly again, but for the most part people just thought it was a funny thing and dealt with it.”
Passengers were given food vouchers and were offered a discounted rate on a future flight. No hard feelings were had against the airline. “I respect the effort Air Canada crew is putting into finding this raccoon,” Lee said on Twitter.
In an email from Air Canada, a representative said "We understand that the raccoon ran off after exiting the duct system," presumably back to the safety of the wilderness where he belongs. Hopefully, the raccoon has learned a lesson about places that are not suitable for taking naps.
