Cheetah Delays Qantas Flight

by Jordan Yerman | December 8, 2010 at 10:00 am

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Cheetah Delays Melbourne-Adelaide Flight

Passengers on a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Adelaide had to wait on the tarmac for nearly an hour as ground crew struggled to get a cheetah onto the plane. Eventually, the cheetah had to take the next flight.

You'd think a cheetah could get on the plane a little quicker. I mean, come on. If it's not that slow person with the oversized wheelie-suitcase, it's the big cat.

However, it's not clear why the cheetah was not flown from Perth to Adelaide directly: Perth Zoo is pretty well-equipped for any potential cheetah issues.

The cheetah had been picked up from Perth Zoo and flown to Melbourne, where ground staff and the cheetah's handlers encountered problems loading the pallet.

The aircraft was delayed for about 50 minutes before staff decided the animal would catch a later flight.

"I guess it's an unusual PA announcement to hear, but rest assured our ground staff are very well-trained to deal with this sort of thing," a Qantas spokeswoman said.