Green caterpillars force down plane in Australia

Green caterpillars have been blamed for forcing a plane into emergency landing shortly after take-off at Brisbane Airport.

An aviation report lodged with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau shows the small 20-seater plane experienced problems with onboard equipment 46 km from the airport in January.

The plane returned to Brisbane and landed safely without harming anyone on board.

And now, an engineering inspection has found that several green caterpillars in the pressure-sensitive instruments were the cause of the shortest flight ever.

An ATSB spokesman said the incident would not be further investigated for financial reasons, explaining: 'We're only resourced to undertake so many investigations a year.'

Jim Carden, from the Brisbane Airport Corporation, said he couldn't remember any similar incidents occurring.

Related articles

Video: Dancing cabin crew let Lady Gaga deliver in-flight safety demo

Revealed: the airline crew being sent to charm school

Danielle Lineker dresses as sexy air hostess for new Easyjet campaign