Air Canada passengers headed for Toronto were subjected to a lengthy seven hour flight delay – all because of a reluctant raccoon.
The furry critter was spotted inside aircraft paneling when Saskatoon Airport workers were connecting an air-conditioning unit to the plane.
That sparked an hours-long struggle to coax the raccoon out which proved to be tougher than anyone expected.
Animal control experts were called and technicians were forced to remove some aircraft paneling to get closer to the animal.
Eventually, after several hours, the critter scampered out safely.
"Our crews worked with the animal control experts to extricate the animal which was unharmed," Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah said.
The incident was live tweeted by a passenger who said others found it mildly amusing to begin with.
"For the first hour, it was really novel. Then people were starting to get a little more cranky, a little less interested," said passenger Damien Lee.
The raccoon had apparently climbed into the hose of the air conditioning unit but how it got there has mystified airport authorities.
"It might have been in the ground equipment. It’s unlikely that it would have traveled from Toronto, but at the same time, we don’t see raccoons around the property, ever. That was kind of unusual," said Andrew Leeming, vice-president of operations at the airport.
