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The purrfect passenger gives the fright of his nine lives

<p>Some people are braver than others. And the same, apparently, can be said for cats. </p> <p>Onboard a flight from Canada’s Ontario International Airport to the USA’s JFK, one feline friend turned heads when he was caught prowling down the aisle, thousands of feet in the air. </p> <p>Columnist Yi Shun Lai was one of the passengers who caught sight of the apparent stowaway, and took to Twitter to share an image of the cat being held by a member of the flight crew, along with the caption “On last night's @JetBlue flight, ONT-JFK: 'Is anyone missing a CAT. A grey-and-white CAT.' Yes I woke up for this.”</p> <p>As the post blew up across social media, she noted later that the cat had been declared as “HEAVY”, while people in her comments begged for further updates. </p> <p>“Was the cat's owner found? Did it get trapped in a suitcase? Does a Canadian cat who stowed away need a visa now? I'M INVESTED IN THE OUTCOME HERE!!” declared one. </p> <p>“And I would have got[ten] away with it, too, if it wasn't for you meddling cabin crew,” joked another. </p> <p>“That is a giant version of my cat,” shared yet another follower. “How did she get hit by a growth ray and end up on a plane to JFK?”</p> <p>Meanwhile, one had a suggestion that many seemed to agree with, writing, “we must claim the cat!!! And name him Baggage!”</p> <p>And Cats with Jobs had something very, very important to share with everyone, telling them to “put him down, he’s the pilot.” </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">On last night’s <a href="https://twitter.com/JetBlue?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JetBlue</a> flight, ONT-JFK: “Is anyone missing a CAT. A grey-and-white CAT.” Yes I woke up for this. <a href="https://t.co/XE5ywPM9x7">pic.twitter.com/XE5ywPM9x7</a></p> <p>— Yi Shun Lai (賴儀遜) (@gooddirt) <a href="https://twitter.com/gooddirt/status/1636719492662263809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>Luckily, people weren’t left waiting around for an answer for long, with the cat’s owners revealing just how the furry friend - known as Brian to his family, who were also on the flight, and his new fans - got himself into that situation. </p> <p>“Brian escaped from his carrier on our red-eye home from Ontario, California,” came the explanation. “Maybe cat backpacks aren’t the most practical for 8hr flights but he certainly has no regrets besides getting caught.”</p> <p>As well as confirming that Brian wasn’t lost - only adventurous - his owners also noted that he is, in fact, a very big 8.6kg cat. He was also, most importantly, home “safe and sound” after his big day out in the sky. </p> <p>The jokes kept rolling in from there, as well as one who spoke for everyone when he said “somehow, Brian seems like the perfect name for this dude.” </p> <p>But for others, they just wanted more information on how he was doing, and how exactly he’d managed to get himself out of his carrier like they’d said. </p> <p>“He’s doing great!” his owner, Alexis, shared with her followers. “My partner &amp; I travel with him in a cat-backpack and the bottom flap isn’t very secure. So Brian … must’ve nudged it open while we were asleep.”</p> <p>Yi Shun then commented, “at first we wondered if Brian weren't doped up on Benadryl; his expression seemed to be so over-it-all, but then it turns out no, this is Brian all the time.”</p> <p>And Alexis was all too happy to confirm this, telling everyone that “this is his attitude at all times. Fussy, over it, and refusing to be ignored.” </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">That’s our big boy Brian! Thank you for all the love, he’s safe &amp; sound but definitely not sorry haha <a href="https://t.co/GDg3Bwzv4p">pic.twitter.com/GDg3Bwzv4p</a></p> <p>— Alexis (@prof_goddess) <a href="https://twitter.com/prof_goddess/status/1637182633397420032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p><em>Images: Twitter</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Stowaway who hid in plane wheel identified

<p dir="ltr">A man who was found stowing away in the wheel well of a plane in Amsterdam has been identified.</p> <p dir="ltr">Dutch police found the man on a cargo flight that had flown from Johannesburg to Amsterdam, a roughly 11 hour flight. The flight is believed to have made one stop, in Nairobi. At the time, Royal Dutch Military Police spokeswoman Joanna Helmonds told the<span> </span><em>AFP,<span> </span></em>"The man was found alive in the nose wheel section of the plane and was taken to hospital in a stable condition. It is quite remarkable that the man is still alive.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Police have identified the man as a 22-year-old Kenyan who plans to seek asylum in the Netherlands. He is conscious and able to communicate. A spokesperson for the Dutch military police told the<span> </span><em>BBC,<span> </span></em>“It is expected he will apply for asylum in the Netherlands, but his medical treatment is the priority at the moment."</p> <p dir="ltr">Stowing away in the wheel section of a plane is dangerous; according to the US Federal Aviation Administration, from 1947 to February 2020, 128 people around the world attempted it, and more than 75% of them died.</p> <p dir="ltr">A particularly famous case was that of the man who<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/15/man-who-fell-from-the-sky-airplane-stowaway-kenya-london" target="_blank">fell out of the sky</a><span> </span>while stowing away on a flight to London from Nairobi. He fell from Kenya Airways flight KQ 100, landing in the southwest London neighbourhood of Clapham.</p> <p dir="ltr">In the past five years, seven stowaways have been discovered on planes in the Netherlands, but only two of them survived the journey. Several of the attempts involved nationals from Nigeria and Kenya.</p> <p dir="ltr">In 1970, Sydney teenager Keith Sapsford<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/heartbreaking-story-behind-49-year-old-photograph-034315026.html" target="_blank">made headlines around the world</a><span> </span>when he fell 60 metres from the wheel well of a Japan Airlines flight soon after take off at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport. Tragically, the 14-year-old, whose parents said he had an innate curiosity for travel, died on impact.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Jun Xu</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Stowaway galah's crazy attempt to find family on cruise ship holiday

<p>An inadvertently intrepid galah has become the subject of a remarkable (if at times confusing) story, escaping home as its family prepared for a cruise holiday, only to find itself aboard a different cruise ship bound for New Zealand.</p> <p>Michelle and Brett Cozzi, and their four-year-old daughter Georgia, feared the worst when, as they were preparing for their own trip, their pet galah Harri escaped.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F7NewsBrisbane%2Fposts%2F1811700665509444&amp;width=500" width="500" height="609" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></p> <p>Remarkably, Harri ended up at Portside Wharf Cruise Ship Terminal, as though she’d been inspired by the family’s travel plans! Harri snuck aboard the next ship leaving, which was Carnival’s Sea Princess, and before long she was headed across the ditch.</p> <p>Understandably distraught, the Cozzi’s thought they might never see Harri again and boarded their ship, Carnival’s Pacific Aria, which was headed around Queensland.</p> <p>After a few days aboard the family received some news from staff.</p> <p>The Sea Princess’ crew had found Harri on the vessel as it approached Milford, and after alerting New Zealand authorities they were told Harri could stay in a separate cabin.</p> <p>The crew checked Harri’s microchip and found out her family were onboard the separate ship, and have been providing regular updates on the bird ever since.</p> <p>Carnival Australia spokesman David Jones <em><a href="http://www.news.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>told News.com.au</strong></span></a></em> this was a first for the line.</p> <p>“It’s a classic feel-good story with everyone in the two cruise lines and government authorities doing everything they can to achieve a great family reunion,” he said.</p> <p>“Needless to say, the lines are running hot between Sea Princess and Pacific Aria to give the family regular updates on Harri’s progress.”</p> <p>What are your thoughts?</p> <p><em>Hero image credit: Facebook / 7 News Brisbane </em></p>

Cruising

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Stowaway cat jumps on cruise and ends up sailing 300km

<p>A stowaway cat is feline fine after completing an epic journey from the Isle of Harris to the Scottish mainland, travelling over 300km on a cruise yacht.</p> <p>It’s believe the cat hopped aboard when the boat called in at Leverburgh on Harris, as it was making its way back to the remote island of Oban. And while the trip was hardly cat-astrophic, this intrepid kitty is still looking for a ride back to Harris.</p> <p>The Scotsman reported the stowaway is believed to be one of a number of feral cats who help keep rats away from the fisherman’s catch back on Harris.</p> <p><img width="499" height="293" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/22552/isle-of-harris_499x293.jpg" alt="Isle Of Harris" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p><em>A port at the Isle of Harris where the cat might've jumped aboard. </em></p> <p>Prawn fisherman Nellie MacAulay said, “We used to be pestered with a lot of rats and we had a problem with them biting holes in the creels and leaving a terrible mess, but since the cats have been here there are no rats whatsoever. This one must have just gone on holiday to Oban.”</p> <p>The animal has been given a temporary home in town, while efforts are made to return it back to Leverburgh where it is looked after by local fishermen.</p> <p>Jean Sutherland, of Argyll Animal Aid, told BBC Radio Scotland, “It was found on Friday by a lady and being an animal lover she managed to coax it into a carrier and took it to a local vet. They have looked after it over the weekend to check all is well and in between times we have been trying to find out where it had come from."</p> <p>“We now have to try and get it back to Harris, which is the bottom line, we need to find some kind soul to take it back up there. Cats do travel miles, they go in all sorts of things and can end up 500 miles away, I think that is why they have got nine lives.”</p> <p>We hope this cat finds her way home before too long. Do you have a cat that’s accustomed to making amazing journeys?</p> <p>Let us know in the comments. </p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="/travel/cruising/2016/05/5-things-you-must-do-to-avoid-seasickness-on-a-cruise/"><em><strong>5 things you MUST do to avoid seasickness on a cruise</strong></em></a></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="/travel/cruising/2016/05/10-things-you-must-never-do-in-a-cruise-cabin/"><em><strong>10 things you must never do in a cruise cabin</strong></em></a></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="/travel/cruising/2016/05/po-ships-first-new-zealand-cruise/"><em><strong>P&amp;O’s first cruise around New Zealand</strong></em></a></span></p>

Cruising

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Teenage stowaway found on China to Dubai flight

<p>Airlines staff emptying the cargo hold of an Emirates Flight that arrived in Dubai from China found more than just luggage when they opened the door. Inside a 16-year-old male, named Xu, was seated in the pressurised cargo area.  </p> <p>The teenager had jumped over an airport fence and snuck into plane’s cargo hold in Shanghai. He said he made the dangerous, nine-hour flight because he was interested in making a living at Dubai International Airport. He had heard the baggers at Dubai International Airport make a good living.</p> <p>In a statement, Emirates did not provide further details of the incident, citing that as it was a “police matter we are unable to comment further at this time.” </p> <p>What's the strangest airline story you've heard? Tell us in the comments below. </p> <p><strong>Related links: </strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2016/05/10-amazing-queensland-waterfalls/"><em>10 amazing Queensland waterfalls</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2016/04/top-10-australian-destinations-to-visit-in-2016/"><em>Top 10 Australian destinations to visit in 2016</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2016/04/pictures-from-best-drives-in-australia/"><em>10 jaw-dropping pictures from Australia’s best drives</em></a></strong></span></p>

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