Watch: Stowaway rat turns up on flight from Netherlands to Aruba

Dec. 17 (UPI) — A stowaway rat was spotted in the passenger cabin of a KLM flight that departed Amsterdam, but the pilot had no choice but to continue the flight to Aruba.

The airline confirmed the rat was spotted aboard the plane Dec. 10, but it was too late to turn around or make an emergency stop because the jet was already over the ocean.

The flight had been intended to stop at Aruba before continuing to the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire and returning to Amsterdam, but the plane was grounded once it arrived in Aruba.

“This was a very exceptional incident. The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew are always our top priority,” a KLM spokesperson told The Independent. “That is why we canceled the flight from Aruba via Bonaire to Amsterdam on December 10th, so that the aircraft could be thoroughly cleaned before being put back into service.”

The airline found overnight accommodations for the passengers and worked to find alternate flights the next day.

An airline spokesperson told RTL News that the origins of the rat are unknown.

“The rat was discovered over the ocean,” the representative said. “Very unfortunate for the passengers who had to experience this.”