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Live Frog found in airline Salad
Source: New Zealand Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay. ... eneralLive frog found in airline salad
04.05.2004
By ANNE BESTON
A passenger on a Qantas flight received a nasty shock when she took the lid off her inflight salad to find a live frog on top of the cucumber.
The surprise was served on a flight from Melbourne to Wellington.
The woman had the presence of mind to slap the lid back on her meal, preventing the airborne amphibian from escaping.
A flight attendant was called and removed the container, said Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Quarantine Service spokesman Cyril Evans.
The Qantas crew notified MAF while the plane was still in the air and Quarantine Service staff were waiting when it landed at Wellington Airport.
The 4cm brownish-coloured frog, a native of Australia known as the whistling tree frog - its call has a slight whistling sound - was taken from the plane and "euthanased" by being put in a freezer.
A Qantas spokesman said that since the incident in February, the airline had changed its lettuce supplier and introduced "additional procedures into the salad supply process".
Tree frogs are common in the area where the lettuce was grown.
The salads were supplied in sealed bowls from an external contractor, the spokesman said, but the airline randomly checked such food.
Mr Evans said it was the first time he had heard of a frog hitching a ride.
"Insects and rodents have been found on other aircraft but this frog could carry parasites or other diseases that posed a danger to native frogs or even other species."
MAF was grateful to airline staff for contacting it so quickly.
"They could have just chucked it in the bin and not said anything but they were very helpful and responsible," he said.
The incident was regarded as a "one-off" and no further action had been taken.
Source: New Zealand Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay. ... eneralLive frog found in airline salad
04.05.2004
By ANNE BESTON
A passenger on a Qantas flight received a nasty shock when she took the lid off her inflight salad to find a live frog on top of the cucumber.
The surprise was served on a flight from Melbourne to Wellington.
The woman had the presence of mind to slap the lid back on her meal, preventing the airborne amphibian from escaping.
A flight attendant was called and removed the container, said Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Quarantine Service spokesman Cyril Evans.
The Qantas crew notified MAF while the plane was still in the air and Quarantine Service staff were waiting when it landed at Wellington Airport.
The 4cm brownish-coloured frog, a native of Australia known as the whistling tree frog - its call has a slight whistling sound - was taken from the plane and "euthanased" by being put in a freezer.
A Qantas spokesman said that since the incident in February, the airline had changed its lettuce supplier and introduced "additional procedures into the salad supply process".
Tree frogs are common in the area where the lettuce was grown.
The salads were supplied in sealed bowls from an external contractor, the spokesman said, but the airline randomly checked such food.
Mr Evans said it was the first time he had heard of a frog hitching a ride.
"Insects and rodents have been found on other aircraft but this frog could carry parasites or other diseases that posed a danger to native frogs or even other species."
MAF was grateful to airline staff for contacting it so quickly.
"They could have just chucked it in the bin and not said anything but they were very helpful and responsible," he said.
The incident was regarded as a "one-off" and no further action had been taken.
