An unusual incident recently occurred at Rome airport, causing a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 series aircraft to be grounded for two days. What initially seemed like a routine situation in the aviation industry quickly turned into a curious story when a stray cat made itself comfortable inside the plane, forcing the airline to ground the aircraft until it could be rescued.
On January 31, 2025, the Boeing 737-800 with registration EI-DPI landed in Rome at Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport (FCO) at 23:42 p.m., after a flight from Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN). However, when the aircraft was on the ground waiting for its next flight, ground crew discovered that a stray cat had entered the aircraft. The animal had hidden in the engine room and could not be removed immediately.
Due to the unforeseen situation, the Ryanair plane had to remain at the airport for at least two days. The cat, which turned out to be an uninvited passenger, did not allow the plane to take off again so quickly. The unusual nature of the incident and the inability to immediately find and free the animal led to the aircraft's operations being delayed.
On February 3, 2025, the aircraft was finally able to take off again and began its journey towards Memmingen Airport (MEM). Since then, the 18-year-old Boeing 737-800 has been flying regularly again and continued its operations, with the last flight on February 11, when it landed in Memmingen at 08:46.
Animal Incidents in Aviation
This incident joins a series of similar incidents in which animals have played a role in delaying flights. A similar incident occurred at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris in November 2024, when a dog escaped during transport and left the airport premises. French authorities had to temporarily close two runways to find the animal and reunite it with its owner.
Such incidents raise questions about how airports and airlines treat animals and what measures they take to prevent such incidents. In both Europe and the USA, animals travelling on air are subject to strict regulations. In the United States, for example, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that animals must be at least eight weeks old and fully weaned before they can be transported. In addition, the animals' transport cages must meet certain minimum requirements to ensure the safety and well-being of the animals during transport.
Airports and their provisions for animals
Animals in air travel are a common challenge for airlines, who must comply with a multitude of regulations to ensure the safety and welfare of the animals. While animals are usually transported in the cargo hold of an aircraft, there are frequent reports of animals escaping during transport or entering undesirable areas of the airport. The Ryanair incident in Rome is a reminder that animals in the aviation industry can certainly cause unexpected and sometimes chaotic situations.
Airports and airlines must therefore have appropriate safety precautions and procedures in place to ensure that no animals are lost during flight or on airport premises. This requires not only careful planning and supervision during loading and unloading of animals, but also training of ground staff to be able to respond quickly to unexpected events.
The incident in the context of the aviation industry
The Rome incident shows how vulnerable air travel is to unforeseen events, even those of the animal world. Airlines face a variety of unpredictable situations every day, from bad weather conditions to technical problems, and must respond to them quickly and efficiently. Yet in some ways the stray cat incident remains one of the more curious aviation stories imaginable.
Despite the inconvenience to passengers and ground staff, it remains a relatively minor incident. Ryanair, like many other airlines, had to ensure the aircraft was properly checked and secured before returning it to service. The speed with which the problem was ultimately resolved reflects the efficient processes that are commonplace in the aviation industry today to deal with even the most unusual problems.
The Ryanair cat story reminds us of the many unforeseen challenges the aviation industry has to deal with on a regular basis. It is of utmost importance for airlines and airports to act quickly in emergencies and find solutions, even if those solutions are not always as expected. This incident is another example of how animals, although not always present on air travel, can still cause unexpected twists and turns that affect operations - even if the solutions may sometimes be as simple as removing a kitten from an aircraft.
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