A Malaysia Airlines passenger flying between Labuan in Borneo and Kuala Lumpur was left in angry disbelief after bumbling airline staff managed to lose the cat that he and his wife were transporting.
Sharing a photo of the cat, and video of the incident, Kiran Kuma Nasarajah wrote on his Facebook account that Scooty, his cat, can clearly be seen scurrying in the background, having escaped from his crate.
While MAS alleges that the crate was improperly fastened, Kiran has denied this, saying that he and his wife purchased a double-locking IATA-certified pet carrier. He says it is far more likely that an employee opened the crate after having checked Scooty in, and was then unable to properly fasten the latches.
By chance, as the plane was boarding, his wife had a window seat, and was able to capture a video of what appears to be an empty crate, and a small white, furry figure crawling into a drain pipe. You can see here, about 13 seconds in. 🙁
Alerting ground crew over the situation, officials only spent 10 minutes looking for the cat. They then informed the couple that they were now “holding up” the plane. Kiran alleges that an ultimatum under duress was then issued, and the couple relented.
The flight left, as scheduled, but without Scooty, or any answers as to how they would retrieve the lost feline.
Landing in KL, the flight crew and ground staff seemed unaware that anything awry had happened in Labuan, and the couple reported that not a single call was made by the airline to Kiran to explain what had happened.
Malaysia Airlines has since said that they were looking into the matter, and that the incident was under investigation.
Meanwhile, if you are in Labuan, near the airport, and see a very frightened cat, he may answer to Scooty. We sincerely hope that you are reunited with your owners, furry guy.
