A raccoon that scurried into the duct system of an Air Canada jet that was set to leave for Toronto caused a seven-hour flight delay.

Ground crews in Saskatoon were connecting an air-conditioning unit to the plane Thursday night and apparently disturbed the furry bandit who had been inside the unitB次元官网网址檚 hose.

B次元官网网址淥ur crews worked with the animal control experts to extricate the animal which was unharmed,B次元官网网址� Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah said Friday in an email. B次元官网网址淭his is the first time weB次元官网网址檙e aware of such an incident.B次元官网网址�

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Damien Lee, one of 79 passengers, said the flight was due to leave Saskatoon at 2:50 p.m. He said that before passengers boarded, he could see a worker looking spooked as he was inspecting the jet. The worker talked to his colleagues and then started taking pictures under the plane.

Passengers initially thought it was funny.

B次元官网网址淔or the most part, it was novelty,B次元官网网址� said Lee, an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan, who was heading to Toronto to hunt for an apartment.

B次元官网网址淧eople were guessing what it was at first. They were like, you know, holding mock bets, not really for real, but they were wondering and shouting out their ideas of what it could be.B次元官网网址�

Pilots came down to assess the scene and, within an hour, animal control experts were brought in to try to catch the raccoon. Workers started taking panels off the plane with screwdrivers and hand drills, Lee said.

Handlers brought out instruments that looked like lassos to try to snag the animal, he said.

B次元官网网址淚t was a circus,B次元官网网址� Lee said in a phone interview from Toronto where the flight finally landed at 3 a.m.

B次元官网网址淲hat can you do? ItB次元官网网址檚 not like somebody did this on purpose. This is an animal in there.B次元官网网址�

Eventually, the raccoon dropped out and was escorted off the property unharmed, said Andrew Leeming, vice-president of operations at the airport. Leeming added that it was like herding cattle.

How the raccoon got into the unitB次元官网网址檚 hose is still a mystery.

B次元官网网址淚t might have been in the ground equipment,B次元官网网址� Leeming said. B次元官网网址滻tB次元官网网址檚 unlikely that it would have travelled from Toronto, but at the same time, we donB次元官网网址檛 see raccoons around the property, ever. That was kind of unusual.B次元官网网址�

Air Canada said it carried out a full aircraft maintenance inspection before the flight finally took off at 10 p.m.

Even though this wasnB次元官网网址檛 LeeB次元官网网址檚 longest flight delay, he said it was definitely his weirdest airplane experience.

B次元官网网址淚t was like, B次元官网网址楬ow the hell did that even get in there?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

The Canadian Press

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