Monkey See, Monkey Do Fly
The Transportation Security Administration can unearth a corkscrew buried in a mound of clothes, a piece of wire in a bra and a rusty-old Swiss Army knife that couldn't even cut through pudding. Yet the agency can't find a monkey on a man's head.
Here's the news, and it's a perfectly goofy way to end a long, hot week:
Earlier this week, a man boarded a Spirit Airlines plane from Lima, Peru, to New York, via Fort Lauderdale. En route, the passenger's ponytail began to wiggle. A new tingly hair tonic? Lice? Nope, the man was hiding a spider monkey beneath his hat--and it seemed the curious monkey confused the man's long lock for a branch.
Once the plane landed at LaGuardia, officials confiscated the animal, leaving the Man With the Hat without his monkey.
According to reports, an airline spokesman was surprised that the creature evaded security officials. Which makes me wonder: What would happen if I wore a top hat? Could I sneak in a baby baboon? Or, even better, a bottle of water? I would share it with the monkey.
Anyone else out there with an interesting Critter on a Plane tale?
By Andrea Sachs |
August 10, 2007; 1:21 PM ET
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Posted by: Troylet | August 10, 2007 2:39 PM
Wouldn't have happened if the guy was flying out of Jamaica. There they make everyone with hats take them off and look inside them.
Posted by: mike | August 10, 2007 5:06 PM
They make you take off your shoes - why not your hat?
Posted by: | August 15, 2007 1:57 PM
i'm a little confused as to why the TSA bothers to ban liquids. correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't the only way (aside from on rare occassions doing an actual physical search) that TSA officials can check for water is by sending commuter's through the x-ray machine? last time i checked...water, alcohol, shampoo etc is not metallic...nor is the plastic container.
Posted by: j | August 15, 2007 2:45 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
No critter stories to share, but this might be the best thing I've seen regarding the monkey story, from the NY Daily News:
"Laura Uselding, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, said that had the monkey been carrying weapons or explosives, an alarm would have triggered."