Mouse hunt in cockpit delays New York flight

A NORWEGIAN airline was forced to delay a flight to the United States on Tuesday to allow pilots to search for a mouse in the cockpit.

The mouse was spotted in the cockpit of the plane. Picture: PA

Norwegian Air Shuttle, which last year became the sole European budget airline to fly long-haul routes, had to delay the flight to New York by five hours in order to try and find the mouse.

Airline spokeswoman Charlotte Holmbergh said: “The pilots discovered a mouse on the flight deck. We had to make sure that no cables or wires had been chewed.

“This does not happen very often, but it does happen from time to time.”

Norwegian Air Shuttle saw many of its flights delayed last year due to technical problems with the new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with passengers stranded at airports, from Bangkok to Florida.

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The airline runs its Dreamliners 18 hours a day - up to six hours more than traditional carriers - meaning that even relatively small delays can lead to significant schedule disruption.

Ms Holmbergh confirmed that the mouse was eventually caught.

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