Next time you complain about airport security, remember this story from the net today:


A crocodile stashed in a duffel bag got loose
on an airplane, frightened passengers and led
to a crash that killed 20 people on board,
according to an inquiry into the accident.

The lone survivor of the crash in the
Democratic Republic of Congo told the story
to investigators, the U.K.’s Telegraph reported
on Thursday. A British pilot was among the
dead.

The plane was on a routine domestic flight
from the capital of Kinshasa to a regional
airport in Bandundu when the bizarre tale
unfolded on Aug. 25.

An unnamed passenger had hidden the
crocodile in a large duffel bag with the intent
of selling the reptile, according to the
Telegraph. The animal escaped as the plane
approached its destination.

Pandemonium ensued.

"The terrified air hostess hurried towards the
cockpit, followed by the passengers," a report
obtained by the Telegraph said. The plane then
became unstable, "despite the desperate
efforts of the pilot."

The plane crashed into a home a few hundred
feet from the airport, though the people who
lived in the residence were not in the house.

The crocodile reportedly survived the crash
but was killed by a blow from a machete.

At the time of the crash, media reports said
the plane apparently ran out of fuel and
couldn’t make a proper landing.

The aircraft belonged to Filair, a private
carrier, and was a Czech-made Let L-410 twin
turboprop. Congo’s domestic air service consists
mainly of badly maintained Soviet-era aircraft
with a dismal safety history, according to media reports.
Air crashes are common in the Central African country.

I'm surprised that someone hasn't offered the logical moral to the story.

Obviously, we should all be allowed to carry on board a machete, for dispatching crocs on the loose.

KB

What about sharks on the loose?