Passenger Brings Pig Aboard US Airways Flight, Asked To Leave After Co-Passengers Complain

A woman who boarded a U.S. Airways flight along with her pig was asked to leave after other passengers thought the animal had become “disruptive.” According to Fox News, the incident reportedly happened on Wednesday at the Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. According to a spokeswoman for U.S. Airways parent American Airlines, Laura Masdival, the crew members of the flight determined that the pig that was brought inside the passenger cabin was causing problems for other passengers and asked the passenger carrying it to deboard the plane before it took off. It was not immediately clear where the flight was headed for.

According to Jonathan Skolnik, a University of Massachusetts professor who was on the flight, he initially thought that the female passenger was carrying a duffel bag. It was later that he realized that it was a live pig.

“But it turns out it wasn’t a duffel bag. We could smell it and it was a pig on a leash,” he told ABC News.

To Jonathan’s surprise, the woman sat right next to him on an empty seat and tethered her pig to the arm rest.

“She tethered it to the arm rest next to me and started to deal with her stuff, but the pig was walking back and forth. I was terrified, because I was thinking I’m gonna be on the plane with the pig,” Snolnik added.

The pig was estimated to weigh between 50 and 70 pounds, Snolik told ABC News reporters.

With other passengers too objecting the presence of the animal aboard the aircraft, the crew decided that it was in their best interest that they request the passenger with the pig to deplane. After the woman and her pig left the plane, the flight took off. It is unclear at this stage if alternate arrangements were made for the pig and the passenger who deplaned.

As for those wondering how the pig was allowed inside the passenger cabin of a commercial flight, let us remind you that the U.S. Department of Transportation rules allow emotional support animals aboard commercial flight – as long as they are not disruptive. Usually, an emotional support animal happens to be a more “mainstream” pet like a cat or a dog. A pig, however, came as a surprise to many.

This is not the first time an animal has caused a disruption aboard a U.S. Airways flight. Earlier this year, the Inquisitr had reported about an incident wherein a flight had to make an emergency landing after a dog pooped twice aboard the plane filling it with nauseating odor.

All said, this story surely made us recall the old adage: “When pigs fly!”

[Image Via ABC News]