Angry Cat Attacks Pilot and Diverts a Boeing

Cats can be adorable creatures, but when it comes to traveling, the majority of them turn into psychos. They are place-oriented and do not like going out of their comfort zone. If you have a cat, you may be heard their excessive meowing or be felt their nails on your hands. It’s their way of saying that they hate traveling.

There is one cat that became famous because of its antagonism toward traveling. It caused big chaos in the cockpit and attacked the pilot. How this cat got there? Let’s find out what is the story behind this!

Four-legged hijacker

The incident happened on a Tarco airlines plane headed from Khartoum, Sudan, to Qatar’s capital city, Doha. The cat somehow snuck into the cockpit, and when the aircraft was about 30 minutes into the flight, it decided to attack the pilot. Pilots couldn’t restrain this furry hijacker, so they chose an emergency landing. They turned the plane around and landed successfully at Khartoum International airport.

It’s still unclear how the cat found its way into the plane. However, as the Sudanese newspaper Al-Sudani stated, it’s possible that the feral feline snuck in while the plane was parked in an airport hangar overnight for cleaning and pre-flight checks.

The furry infiltrator did not belong to any crew member or passenger. It was just a curious stray cat that wanted to explore the plane. After its explorations perhaps it fell asleep or got stuck somewhere in the cockpit. Yet, this cat had no plans of traveling or being in the air that day so when it found itself in this confusing situation it became feral.

Unfortunately, it’s unknown if this angry cat remained in the cockpit during the return trip. The most important thing is that the stowaway cat came back to Khartoum airport safe and sound. Also, none of the passengers on the Sudanese flight were hurt, they just had their flight delayed a little. Now they have an exciting story about how an angry cat made a plane turn around and land.

Not the first cat attack on aircraft

As if the story is not surprising enough, there were more cat attacks like this. In 2004, on a flight from Brussels to Vienna, an angry cat attacked the co-pilot forcing plane to make an emergency landing. This happened because the cat broke out of its carrier and managed to get into the cockpit while the meal was being delivered to the pilots by crew members. Once more, the pilot was forced to go back to the ground so the cat could be removed from the aircraft.

Moreover, back in July 2021, the stowaway cat was found in a military plane at Bangor International Airport in Maine. Although it was unclear when the cat got on the cargo plane, it had quite a trip. The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane originally took off at the Travis Air Force Base in California and stopped in Colorado Springs before arriving in Bangor.

However, this time it actually enjoyed the flight. When the crew member found the cat hiding under a cargo pallet, it was friendly and super sweet. They even called this “feline recovery mission.” After this successful mission, the furry friend was taken to a shelter where workers tried to find whether someone had been looking for it. They posted on social media regularly about the cat, and contacted other shelters and military bases in California and Colorado but after several weeks nobody responded.

The shelter then officially put the cat up for adoption. However, the cat didn’t need to wait long for its new home because the airport worker Nanci Hamlin took it in and named it Cargo. Now this adventurous cat is enjoying its life with two new human friends, four other cats, and one dog.

How to avoid such attacks?

The last story is indeed cute, but as we saw in previous stories most cats are not so friendly during the flight, especially when they get on that flight accidentally or get in the cockpit. Not all cats like being greeted by strangers so high in the air.

In order to avoid such angry cat attacks in the future you must have some knowledge about air cargo management. That’s why we recommend you take our course about Air Cargo Management Basics. There you will get an understanding of why air cargo matters and what global trends and challenges affect the air cargo industry, learn terminology, and most important learn about the safety and security in order to avoid furry hijackers.

To make sure the course is right for you, you can watch an excerpt on live animal transportation here:

Final thoughts

Cats are unique creatures and can be masters of infiltrating into the most secured places such as Air Force planes. However, most of them see planes as flying prison and what to get out of it no matter what and these stories are proof of that.

How does your cat react to traveling? Maybe your pet loves being in the plane, doesn’t attack pilots and is the best companion for your travels? Let’s us hear your unique story in the comment section! And don’t forget to take a look into the course mentioned above!