Mittens’ Air New Zealand Odyssey & 6 Other Cat-Astrophic Flights

In the world of domestic animals, the debate as to whether it’s better to be a cat person or a dog person is as complex and divisive as asking an avgeek whether they prefer Airbus or Boeing. Of course, both are matters of personal preference, with strong arguments to be made for either side, but, every so often, the worlds of aviation and pets collide, occasionally resulting in cat-astrophic consequences.

These meetings of worlds most notably occur when passengers bring their pets onboard aircraft. Animals are often transported in less-than-ideal conditions in the cargo-carrying belly of modern airliners, but, occasionally, if they are the right size or working as an emotional support animal, pets sometimes end up being transported in the passenger cabin. In both cases, notable incidents have occurred.

1

Mittens’ Air New Zealand odyssey

Three flights in 24 hours

The subject of transporting domesticated animals on commercial passenger aircraft has become a hot topic once again in recent days following an alarming chain of events in New Zealand. Specifically, as reported by the BBC on January 22nd, an eight-year-old cat named Mittens ended up taking three flights in the space of 24 hours after being unintentionally left onboard in an aircraft’s cargo hold.

If all had been well, Mittens would have been transported in the cargo hold of an Air New Zealand
flight from Christchurch, New Zealand (CHC) to Melbourne, Australia (MEL) on January 12th, with her owner, Margo Neas, picking her up at the other end. However, after a long wait with no sign of her beloved pet, Reas was eventually told that Mittens was still onboard the aircraft as it returned to Christchurch.

The cat then had to be put on a third flight back to Melbourne in order to be reunited with its owner. While Mittens was found to have lost weight in the process, the feline was otherwise comfortable. Initial reports suggested that the cat’s carrier cage may have been obscured from view by a stored wheelchair in the cargo hold, causing it to remain unseen by baggage handlers and, thus, remain onboard.

2

The first feline flight?

‘Kiddo’ took to the skies in the early days of aviation

In the case of Mittens, the cat’s presence onboard the Air New Zealand flight (or at least the first one from Christchurch to Melbourne) was a planned affair. However, with our furry feline friends being cute and curious creatures, there have been several notable instances whereby cats have taken flight without planning. A notable example of this occurred in October 1910 on a transatlantic balloon crossing.

As Simple Flying recalled in an article published in October of 2022, the flight from Atlantic City, New Jersey took an interesting turn on departure when, unexpectedly, a gray tabby cat that lived in the airship hangar named Kiddo climbed aboard. Those onboard the vessel did attempt to remove him, but their efforts proved unsuccessful, and so he settled in for a long flight across the North Atlantic Ocean.

Kiddo spent much of the flight cuddled up with a radio operator named Jack Irwin, but other crew members weren’t keen on his presence, with an engineer named Melvin Vaniman requesting via radio that someone would come and get the cat. In any case, the flight ended prematurely when the vessel crashed off the US coast, with the crew (including Kiddo) being evacuated onto a Royal Mail steamship.

3

When the proverbial hits the (turbo)fan

A messy end to an unfortunate situation

More than 100 years after this amusing incident, cats are still (understandably) finding flying to be a rather stressful affair. After all, for creatures that spend their days happily lazing around or exploring the local area (and indeed further beyond), being trapped in an unfamiliar, noisy, and occasionally dark environment such as the cabin or cargo hold of a commercial airliner can be unpleasant.

This sentiment manifested itself in a recent incident whereby a Southwest Airlines
passenger was reportedly refused onward travel after their cat defecated onboard one of the carrier’s aircraft. As Simple Flying reported in early January, a passenger named Alex was traveling with the budget airline with her seven-month-old cat Oni when a rough landing caused the cat to unexpectedly relieve himself.

However, while the mess was contained within Oni’s carrier and quickly cleaned up by his owner with no lingering smell or visible mess, Alex was reportedly asked to leave the aircraft before her onward flight. This caused a six-hour delay to her journey after she was rebooked onto another flight, and, while Southwest provided her with a $200 voucher as compensation, the situation surely left a bad taste.

4

Inflight attack

The chaotic story of an unexpected stowaway

In 2020 and 2021, the world of commercial aviation was one of considerable uncertainty. After all, back then, airlines and airports worldwide were struggling to come to terms with the devastating economic impact of the sharp drop in passenger demand that resulted from the onset of coronavirus. Still, amid all the doom and gloom being reported on at the time, there were still amusing incidents.

An example of one of these occurred in early 2021, when a cat that had stowed away on an aircraft during cleaning procedures on the ground woke up once the plane was inflight, and struggled to come to terms with its new surroundings. The incident involved a Tarco Aviation Boeing 737 flying from Khartoum, Sudan (KRT) to Doha, Qatar (DOH), with the cat waking up around 30 minutes into the flight.

It was at this point that the feisty feline reportedly became rather agitated, resulting in the cat attacking the flight’s Captain. With the crew unable to capture the animal, or at least meaningfully contain the chaos it was causing, the decision was taken to divert the flight back to Khartoum. While the incident was an amusing one at face value, it did highlight failings in cleaning and security procedures in Sudan.

5

Walkabout in Washington

The cat went missing after an otherwise uneventful flight

Of course, cats ending up in places where they shouldn’t be when it comes to the world of commercial aviation is not a phenomenon that was limited to the curious and crazy years of the coronavirus pandemic, when time seemed far from linear and anything was possible. With this in mind, let’s look back in time to October 2019, when a cat went missing in Washington DC after a transatlantic flight.

As Simple Flying reported at the time, the furry feline named Milo had flown into Dulles International Airport (IAD) on a scheduled flight from Munich (MUC) that was operated by Cologne-based German flag carrier and Star Alliance founding member Lufthansa
. The cat reportedly escaped from its carrier case when it became damaged during its journey from the aircraft to the baggage reclaim belt at Dulles. Lufthansa promised to help the cat be reunited with its owner, stating that:

“Our team has posted flyers created by the customer at different locations of the ramp area. The search for Milo continues and our ground staff are in close touch with the passenger, who is being updated regularly.”

6

Too fat to fly?

Trying to trick the system doesn’t always work

As mentioned, airlines often have strict rules when it comes to the transportation of domesticated animals within the passenger cabins of aircraft themselves. After all, they are essentially extra pieces of hand luggage, due to the need to transport them in dedicated carrier cases. However, back in 2019, a passenger whose cat exceeded the weight limit got into hot water while trying to beat the system.

The passenger, Mikhail Galin, didn’t want to place his 10 kg cat Viktor in the hold of an Aeroflot
plane, but found that he exceeded the Russian flag carrier’s cabin limit of 8 kg. With this in mind, he located a second cat named Phoebe who weighed just 7 kg, and, in conjunction with her owners, used her to trick airport staff and security personnel before swapping her for Viktor before boarding.

That could have been that, except one day, at some point afterward, it turned out not to be. After bragging about his feline feat on social media, Galin had his frequent flyer membership with Aeroflot canceled after the Russian flag carrier became aware of the post. This resulted in him being stripped of some 400,000 frequent miles, with the moral of the story being that he was only cheating himself.

7

Istanbul escapee

A flight had to return to its gate after a cat got loose

More recently, in January of 2024, Turkish Airlines
flight TK 1843 between Istanbul Airport (IST) and Athens International (ATH) had to return to its departure gate in the ‘city on seven hills’ after an escaped cat was spotted in the cabin. The feline was reportedly seen wandering around the Boeing 777 as it taxied for takeoff, with its owner having smuggled it onboard without a ticket or carrier.

After returning to the gate, Turkish Airlines opted to remove the cat and its owner from the flight on account of the feline having been illegally smuggled onboard in their hand luggage. This resulted in a two-hour delay to the flight, which eventually departed without further incident and landed safely in the Greek capital city. Turkish Airlines reportedly banned the offending passenger from future flights.