Mouse in cockpit grounds plane in Hong Kong

PA

Who'd have thought one tiny little rodent could ground an entire plane?

That's exactly what happened at the Hong Kong International Airport this week when a mouse was spotted in a Nepal Airlines Boeing 757 just before take-off.

The flight, which was bound for Kathmandu, had to be cancelled after pilots spotted the small furry animal on Tuesday and, by midday on Thursday, it still hadn't been found.

The airline's Hong Kong general manager, Sita Gurung, told CNN. 'It was initially trapped, but unfortunately managed to escape again. We've now placed mouse traps throughout the aircraft.
'All passengers have now left Hong Kong after we re-routed them through Dragonair on Wednesday.'

Gurung explained that you have to be extremely cautious of a trapped rodent on a plane because of the fear it may chew through wires integral to the plane's operation.

The very same plane was held up in Kathmandu on Monday for 11 hours after a mouse jumped out of a box of drinks. But staff aren't certain if it's the same rogue rodent...