Flight Delayed In China After Pet Possum Escapes On Board, Owner Arrested

A plane in China was delayed on Monday after a passenger's pet sugar glider, a type of small Australian possum, escaped and broke loose in the cabin. Shanghai Police International Airport Branch said passengers on the Eastern Airlines flight had to temporarily disembark when the animal escaped from its owner in the passenger cabin and went into hiding, CNN reported. 

The passengers were eventually required to leave the plane and wait in the terminal building until the creature was captured. Several videos on social media showed flight attendants frantically looking for the runaway animal under passenger seats while some clips showed people gathered at a counter.

''Call the police,'' a female passenger said in a video, with a male responding, ''Get her out and [make her] apologise to everyone!''

The sugar glider was eventually captured and the pet owner was arrested for violating the rules. 

''On a flight from Shanghai to Jinan on June 10, 2024, a passenger surnamed Guo (female, 34 years old) violated the regulations and took a pet sugar glider on board the plane. The pet escaped in the cabin and was captured by others,” Shanghai Police International Airport Branch said in a statement on its Weibo social media account.

"Guo has been placed under administrative detention by the police according to the law for her illegal act of causing a disturbance on public transportation," the statement added. 

The plane eventually departed Shanghai about an hour after its scheduled take-off, landing at Ji'nan's Yaoqiang Airport just before midnight, 62 minutes past its expected arrival time.