A FLIGHT has been grounded for five days after 130 hamsters escaped their cages in Portugal.
They were found roaming around the cargo area of the Airbus 320 after baggage handlers discovered their damaged cages when the flight touched down at an airport in Azores.
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Workers have been desperately trying to round up the power cable-eating rodents since the mass escape on Tuesday – but 16 are still said to be on the loose.
The hamsters were reportedly part of a delivery for a pet shop on the island which also included ferrets and some birds.
Authorities began searching for them after passengers on board the plane disembarked and their luggage was removed.
The mass break-out forced the flight to be grounded instead of continuing the journey to Lisbon where it had started its journey from.
Sources told a local newspaper that the animals had been accepted on the flight after being turned away from an earlier one because the cages “didn’t meet accepted standards”.
TAP Air Portugal, the airline operating the flight, has yet to make any official comment.
Pictures released by the airport staff show the rodents running around the plane.
Workers can be seen wearing gloves to protect themselves from the animals’ sharp gnashers have been published.
Hampster’s incisors are said to be stronger than metals like iron and copper.
They like to munch on cables and wires which could potentially damage the aircraft.
Hamster owners are advised to make sure all loose electrical wires and cords are tucked out of sight behind appliances or confined to areas where pets cannot get to them.
In 2016, hundreds of hamsters broke loose inside a Boeing jet that was forced to stay on the ground.
The pilot of the Amsterdam-bound flight said at the time: “We came to the aircraft, and the mayhem just happened.”
And in 2006, a hamster secretly being carried by a passenger escaped and caused chaos on a plane to Austria.
The flight from Mallorca, Spain was forced to make a stop in Innsbruck so officials could search for the hamster and make sure it didn’t gnaw through any wiring, the airline said.