“Killer” Cat Attacks Pilot, Forces Emergency Landing

by SharonKurheg

Y’all, I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m more of a dog person. Always have been. It could be because I’m allergic to cats, I dunno. But after reading this, yeah, I’m just doubling down on my opinion of dogs vs, cats. Sorry not sorry. 😉

Anyway, for some background:

Tarco Aviation is an airline based out of Sudan, in northeast Africa. It was established in 2009 (the airline, not the country. The country’s been “as is,” name wise, since 1956) and gained its current name in 2018. Servicing Sudan, North, South, East and Central Africa, as well as the Middle East, Tarco Aviation is one of the largest aviation companies in Sudan (thank-you, Wikipedia!).

And now on to our story…

Al-Sudani News reported that Tarco Aviation flight 3T-234 was roughly 30 minutes into its flight from Khartoum, Sudan to Qatar’s capital city of Doha when a cat suddenly emerged in the cockpit.

Presumably alarmed by being in unfamiliar surroundings and among people it didn’t know people, the feline went on the offensive and began attacking the pilot. The plane’s crew tried to capture the (scared? angry? both?) cat, but (s)he resisted all attempts to be caught.

Rather than continue with any risks from the unknown cat, the pilot decided to fly the Boeing 737 back to Khartoum and do an unscheduled landing, in order to have the animal removed.

According to Al-Sudani, airline workers believe the feral cat may have boarded the plane the previous evening, while it was parked in the hangar overnight for cleaning and preparations. Workers also suggested the possibility that the cat may have snuck onboard the aircraft during the pre-flight engineer check.

This event happened early last year, in late February 2021. And believe it or not, it wasn’t the only time a cat was found in the cockpit of a plane that month! Around February 7th, a cat somehow got inside the cockpit of an Israeli-based EL AL plane – coincidentally, also a Boeing 737! After infiltrating the cabin, it gnawed on the interiors and damaged several plastic encasements and handles.

Translation: This morning I peeked at a cat that infiltrated the cockpit of an El Al Boeing 737. This is what the cockpit looks like now, wow. Photo of the plane: Ido and Katel

That photo on the bottom right shows the guilty kitty, by the way.

a cat sitting in the cockpit of an airplane

And y’all cat lovers think cats are cute. They’re killers, I tell ya! Vicious cockpit killers! 😉

Feature Image: stockvault

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

2 comments

Quo Vadis January 17, 2022 - 6:10 pm

Thought bubble of cat on the El Al 737: “If those stoopid hoomans are going to leave me to die, trapped aboard this airplane, I swear to Dog that I won’t leave this life without making my mark on the world, or at least this cockpit.”

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Christian January 17, 2022 - 6:19 pm

I’m sure a wild dog would have been properly behaved.

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