Illustrative Image Source: PxHere
A recording of air traffic control radio frequency radio shows that a flight had to return to its home airport shortly after takeoff because the pilots realized that there was a cat on board.
In the player below it is possible to add subtitles using the menu in the corner of the video and enable automatic translation of subtitles into Portuguese, since communication is in English. Below the player there is more information about the situation.
As indicated by the report at the beginning of the above recording, the pilot reported to broadcaster VASaviation that at some point during cargo loading a stray cat managed to climb aboard and hide behind the rudder control pedals.
However, his presence was only discovered after takeoff when he crawled out of the area and then sat down on the control panel on the left side of the cockpit, leading to the decision to return to Laredo Airport, Texas, USA.
According to the statements heard in the video, the flight was Flight 7245 of Ameriflight, a regional cargo airline that has a fleet of more than 150 Beechcraft 1900, Beechcraft 99, Saab 340, Embraer 120 Brasília and Fairchild SA227 Metroliner turboprop aircraft .
After the air traffic controller said goodbye with wishes for a “safe flight”, the pilot replied: “We have to return” and explained: “We have an uninvited visitor on board.” Somehow a cat got on the plane.”
Despite the explanation, when the plane was already on the apron, the air traffic controller asked about the return and landing instructions: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ask while you were doing your maneuvers, but I didn’t understand the reason for.” the return. It had nothing to do with flight safety, did it?”
The pilot’s reply was not heard as communications with the aircraft on the ground could not be detected. However, the latest messages from the air traffic controller read: “A cat? Like a cat? (…) wow! (…) Ten years of experience and nothing like this has ever happened to me. Let me know if you need any assistance or want the airport police to come by or anything else.”