The mouse was said to have been spotted by a security guard just before the Scandinavian SAS Airbus 330 flight was about to take off.

The flight was aborted due to fear by airline officials that the rodent may have caused damage to the electronics of the plane. However, despite an extensive search the mouse was never found and caught. They placed a number of mouse traps at different locations of the plane but without success.

As a consequence the airline was forced to make other travel arrangements for their 250 passengers. A media spokesperson for SAS airlines said that such an incident has never occurred before on their planes though similar cases have been known on other airlines.

The decision was taken to ground the flight for security reasons.

Though other measures such as “smoking” out the mouse were being considered, no solution was immediately available to minimize the impact of the embarrassing event.

In 2009 there was a similar incident when a mouse also grounded a packed Delta airline that was almost ready for takeoff Heathrow Airport in London. The flight then, with 300 passengers was departing the JFK International Airport in New York, but the pilot refused to proceed when the mouse was seen running through the cabin. The pilot in this case also said there were concerns that the rodent may have chewed through the airplane’s wiring, causing serious problems.