Holiday travel tips for packing and shipping gifts
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On December 10th, an unexpected passenger snuck onto a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Aruba. It was a rat.
According to footage from Dutch media outlet De Telegraaf, a rat appeared from the overhead bin and crawled behind the cabin curtains as KLM Flight 767 was en route to a Caribbean island.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines confirmed to USA TODAY that there was a rat on board. “This was a highly unusual event,” the airline said in a statement.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines told RTL News it was unclear how the stowaway rat snuck onto the plane, but the flight crew continued to monitor it until it landed in Aruba.
The return flight from Aruba to Amsterdam via Bonaire was canceled to allow the aircraft to be cleaned before returning to service. “The safety and health of our passengers and crew is always our top priority,” the airline continued.
This is not the first time rodents have been reported to have taken to the skies. In September 2024, rats invaded a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Oslo to Malaga, forcing it to divert to Copenhagen. The rat reportedly jumped out of a passenger’s “food box.”
