June 11 (UPI) — A plane in China was delayed after a passenger’s smuggled sugar glider, a type of small Australian opossum, escaped into the passenger cabin.
Shanghai Police International Airport Branch said passengers on the Eastern Airlines flight to Jinan had to temporarily disembark when the animal, which resembles a flying squirrel, escaped its owner in the passenger cabin and went into hiding.
Police wrote on social media that the animal’s owner “violated regulations and brought a pet sugar glider on board the aircraft.”
The sugar glider was eventually captured and removed from the plane, police said.
Passengers were allowed to board the plane again, which arrived in Jinan 62 minutes behind schedule.
The owner of the sugar glider was arrested by the police for ‘disturbing order on public transport’.
