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Monkey business causes confusion on US flight
Officials at US carrier Frontier Airlines called law enforcement to meet a flight arriving at Las Vegas after a small monkey was discovered in the cabin.
Frontier Airlines spokesman Richard Oliver said the primate was found to be a passenger’s ’emotional support’ animal but the airline was not informed a service animal would be onboard the flight, which departed from Columbus, Ohio.
Oliver said the passenger sneaked the pet on board in a duffel bag and when questioned on arrival, refused to hand over the required documents verifying the monkey as a support animal.
Still, the confusion sparked questions about Frontier’s policy and how the monkey managed to get through undiscovered.
The monkey was apparently allowed through the TSA security checkpoint in Columbus as TSA agents do not need to see supporting documents.
Contrary to some media reports, Las Vegas police said the monkey was not ‘loose’ in the cabin and remained with its owner throughout the flight.
It is not the most unusual creature to be used as an emotional support animal on a plane.
Other animals to cause a stir in-flight in recent times include a 70-pound pot bellied pig, a turkey and even a kangaroo.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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