US Airways flight diverts after dog bites 2 on board

[DieselDragRacer]

By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

Is it time for airlines to add a "beware of dog" warning to their pre-flight safety instructions?That idea may be on the minds of 122 US Airways customers this morning after a dog got loose on their flight and bit a passenger and a flight attendant.

Though the injuries were minor, the incident prompted the pilot to divert the Newark-to-Phoenix flight to Pittsburgh for an emergency landing, The Associated Press reports.

"The captain felt in the interest of safety, it was better to land and have them looked at than continue on," US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The culprit: a 12-pound Manchester terrier named Mandy, who got loose after her owner took her out of the cage, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Apparently, the dog's "sedatives began wearing off" and it became agitated, the Tribune-Review says, citing Allegheny County police Inspector David Walsh.

A man sitting next to the dog's owner tried to calm the dog.
That's when the trouble started, according to the Tribune-Review. The paper writes the dog bit the man, got loose "and then ran up and down the aisle of the plane barking. A flight attendant who grabbed the dog also was bitten."

The Post-Gazette says the bite victims were treated by airport medical personnel. They then got back on the plane in Pittsburgh and continued on to Phoenix, according to Tribune-Review.

However, separate transportation was arranged for the dog's owner -- identified only as an 89-year-old New Jersey woman en route to Palm Springs, Calif.

US Airways officials note the carrier does allow small dogs to be brought on board -- for a $100-each-way fee -- if they fit in a carrier small enough to go under the seat in front of the passenger. But US Airways adds that its rules require passengers to keep the pets caged in flight.

http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2010/12/dog-us-airways-flight/133822/1

 

[SFR]

What is the hardon with people and pets??? I don't get it. They are annoying, messy and always smell.

I really don't get the hardon with single women and dogs....


I knew one that she loved her dogs so much and carried pictures of them as if they were her kids. She was 30 years old...strange... I almost think that she had them lick the peanut butter.. Yes, she was an ASA pilot in ATL...

 

[PropPiedmont]

More importantly, what's the deal with US Airways' inability to control animals on their airplanes?

 

[LearLove]

I'm told it was a west flight and the dog wanted DOH

 

[GuinessGuy]

I'm spitting up my oatmeal now..........thank lear........too funny

 

[mesaserf]

When I read the thread title my first thought was, "well what do you expect when they work our flight attendants so hard."

 

[get2flyin]

I'm told it was a west flight and the dog wanted DOH

Hilarious!

 

[Mike man]

us air should bill the owner of the dog for the cost of the diversion

 

[Flyer1015]

More importantly, what's the deal with US Airways' inability to control animals on their airplanes?

Sometimes a plane full of 150 animals is just too hard to deal with.

 

[AlbieF15]

If the lady wasn't 89 I'd say the airline would be right to go after her...sounds like she really goofed. On the other hand...do YOU want to be your company's PR person when you sue an 89 year old granny for loving the only family she's got left? I'll be US Air let's this one slide.

Now...what about that little Doberman up in 25 C?

 

[Carl_Spackler]

What is the hardon with people and pets??? I don't get it. They are annoying, messy and always smell.

I really don't get the hardon with single women and dogs....


I knew one that she loved her dogs so much and carried pictures of them as if they were her kids. She was 30 years old...strange... I almost think that she had them lick the peanut butter.. Yes, she was an ASA pilot in ATL...

This bears repeating. Stay far far away from women with little dogs that treat them like they are children. There are serious psychological issues that go along with the dog. The dog is just the manifestation of their issues. Unless you want a head case that cares more about her dogs feelings than she does about you....go around.

 

[DX Jake]

anyone remember the pig incident PHL-SEA circa 1999-2000 ???

 

[Axel]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Saturday, October 28, 2000[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]THE ASSOCIATED PRESS [/FONT]

PHILADELPHIA -- There's no way to know if hell has frozen over, but it's official -- pigs can fly.
An embarrassed US Airways is promising it will never again allow barnyard animals onto its flights after a hog accompanied 200 human passengers on a six-hour flight from Philadelphia to Seattle on Oct. 17.
"We can confirm that the pig traveled, and we can confirm that it will never happen again," US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said. "Let me stress that. It will never happen again."
Sources familiar with the incident told the Philadelphia Daily News for yesterday's editions that two women, the pig's owners, convinced the airline the animal was a "therapeutic companion pet," like a guide dog for the blind.
An internal US Airways incident report said the owners claimed they had a doctor's note that allowed them to fly with the animal.
US Airways and Federal Aviation Administration rules allow passengers to fly with service animals.
"According to (the) Philadelphia agent who talked to passenger over phone . . . passenger described pig as being 13 pounds, so based on this info, authorization was given," the report stated.
Passengers on the flight told the Daily News that the pig actually weighed several hundred pounds.
"All I know is, it was ugly and it pooped," one eyewitness told the Philadelphia paper.
The pig, which spent the flight in the first row of first class, went ape when the aircraft taxied into Seattle, according to the report.
It reportedly ran loose through the aircraft, squealing loudly, and even tried to enter the cockpit.
"Many people on board the aircraft were quite upset that there was a large uncontrollable pig on board, especially those in the first-class cabin," the incident report stated.
The pig made it off the plane but continued to squeal in the Seattle airport.
"Once the pig was off aircraft, another passenger had to push while the two women pulled to get it in the elevator. The whole time, the pig was squealing so loudly everyone in the terminal heard it," according to the report.
Sea-Tac spokesman Bob Parker said he was aware that a pig had arrived at the airport, but as far as he knew, it did not cause any uproar.
"As outlandish as the Philadelphia Daily News story sounds, there was an incident," Parker said, adding that most of the action appears to have taken place aboard the plane. "To my knowledge, it (the pig) did not create an incident at our airport."

 

[glasspilot1]

I really don't get the hardon with single women and dogs....

It's probably 'cause you're not a single woman!

 

[SFR]

I also don't get the hardon about living in Ohio.

 

[CA1900]

As an employee of an Ohio-based company who has to spend far too many days there, I don't get it either!

 

[GogglesPisano]

I also don't get the hardon.

There's a pill for that.

 

[big shacks]

Dogs offer protection...especially to single or married and alone. Scumbags think twice when they hear a bark.

 

[landlover]

Dogs offer protection...especially to single or married and alone. Scumbags think twice when they hear a bark.

maybe from a pitbull, but the paris hilton look-a-likes with a pug or pomeranian are just covering up their daddy issues

 

[Carl_Spackler]

maybe from a pitbull, but the paris hilton look-a-likes with a pug or pomeranian are just covering up their daddy issues

Especially if they are a social worker.