A dog whose sedative wore off during a flight from Newark to Phoenix took the plane by storm and bit two people, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Pittsburgh, reports AP, and doubtless causing a number of scowls from delayed passengers.
If Mandy had been a human, her behavior on US Airways Flight 522 would probably have landed her in prison, and she’d be looking for a good lawyer right now. Fortunately, Mandy is just a 12-pound Manchester terrier, beloved by her 89-year-old owner, who was traveling with her. No charges have been filed, and the two were allowed to get on a different flight to Phoenix once the dust settled.
The trouble started when Mandy’s tranquilizer failed to keep her calm for long (Newark to Pittsburgh is not exactly a trans-world trip). A fellow passenger trying to help calm Mandy down reached into the dog’s airline-approved carrier. Mandy bit the passenger, and then escaped, running down the plane’s aisle. A flight attendant tried to pick her up, and Mandy bit the attendant, too.
The bites weren’t serious, but AP reports that “as a precaution,” the pilot landed the plane at the closest airport. Precaution against what? I imagine someone caught the rattled pooch and stuck her back in her carrier. Or was Mandy running loose and crazy the whole time, like a mini Kujo 35,000 feet above ground? Maybe the pilot wanted to make sure the bites weren’t serious. The passenger and flight attendant were checked out in Pittsburgh and boarded the plane again — unlike the dog and her woman.
Will Mandy end up on the Do Not Fly list? Probably not. Will her owner be looking forward to their next plane trip together? Also highly unlikely.
The worst thing about this story is that since I first saw it a couple of hours ago, I can’t get the Barry Manilow tune, Mandy, out of my head. Here, join the club:
The lyric at around 1:01 could have been sung by the airplane’s pilot. “Oh Mandy, well you came and you gave (bites) without taking. And I sent you away. Oh Mandy…”
