While two F-16s waited outside, it was actually a cat-deprived “European model” that managed to bring down a Boeing 767 for an emergency landing in Denver on Friday. The Condor Airlines flight was on its way from Las Vegas to Frankfurt about 6 p.m. when a female passenger insisted that her “comfort cat,” which was apparently in the hold, be brought to her. When she didn’t get the answer she wanted she became “unruly,” according to the airline. According to a fellow passenger who tweeted about the incident she became a “crazy lad[y] punching [a] stewardess.” Whatever the precise nature of the fracas, the Air Force decided it warranted its attention.
Two Vipers were scrambled from Buckley Air Force Base to make sure the 767 got to Denver for its unscheduled stop. Since by the time the various issues were sorted out (no charges laid, just a “customer service issue” according to the FBI) continuing the flight would have pushed the crew over its maximum duty day, the airline had to put all the passengers and crew up in hotels for the night. Whether the model and her cat were on the resumption of the flight on Saturday wasn’t clear.
