Woman removed from BA plane after smuggling dog on board

A woman who managed to smuggle a dog onto a London-bound British Airways plane was thrown off the aircraft by stewards just as the plane was about to take off.

The Airbus A321 had already taxied to the runway on Sunday night when a passenger alerted cabin crew after hearing a squeaking noise from under the lady's window seat.

Air stewards on the BA flight 166 from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport to London Heathrow had already given passengers their safety briefing when the woman, thought to be American, was removed from the flight, along with her dog and her luggage.

The incident had thrown up security questions, according to thejc.com, who reported that one passenger said: "People are concerned about the security implications. How on earth did she manage to get a dog through security at Ben Gurion?"

Dogs are actually allowed to travel on some airlines at Ben Gurion, but are not allowed in the main cabin of BA flights.

According to the Daily Telegraph, a British Airways spokesman said the passenger would have passed through all the relevant security and immigration points at Tel Aviv.

The spokesman added: "We did not allow a female customer to travel on board our service from Tel Aviv to Heathrow today after it was discovered that she was carrying a small dog in her handbag.

"We apologise to our customers who experienced a delay to the departure of their flight as a result of this incident."

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