Hedgehog on runway costs GBP2 million
The French government has reportedly been left with a £2 million bill after a dead hedgehog caused chaos on an airport runway.
According to the Daily Telegraph, more than 20 seagulls were pecking at the body of the hedgehog as it lay on the runway at Marseilles airport.
The flock was sucked into the engine of an airbus A320 as it prepared to take off, causing the pilot to abort the procedure and bring the plane to an emergency halt just short of a lagoon near the airport.
While nobody was hurt, the engine was completely destroyed, the newspaper reports. The French government’s ministry of infrastructure and transport ended up footing the bill after being ordered to compensate Air France, the owner of the jet, and five insurance companies.
A court in Marseilles reportedly heard that the state was legally responsible for preventing aircraft from such dangers; the Telegraph reports that the person responsible for clearing the runway on the day in question had slept in and had not arrived for work.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd
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