For Rent: Max the Cat. Proven Mouse Killer. Snake enthusiast. Avid bird watcher. Will work for cat treats, preferably salmon flavored.

In what could be the basis for a script for the new Samuel. L. Jackson sequel to “Snakes on a Plane,” (which will arrive in a theater near you in August), a television station in Kansas City this week went live with video shot by an American Airlines’ employee of the Kansas City overhaul base.



According to the whistleblower in the report who did not want to be identified, American Airlines’ N20, a Boeing 767, came in for maintenance service infested with mice.

The whistleblower told the station that workers had found mouse nests in air vents and dead mice in emergency oxygen masks. Video of the inside of the plane shows where mice ate through insulation. Several calls were apparently made to the FAA concerning the infestation during the month of May, including one that said the mice had chewed through wires, and one that reported there were mouse nests near oxygen generators.

According to the aircraft logs, mechanics first noticed a mouse sighting on April 20 while the aircraft was at JFK. But the note was tagged as “deferred maintenance.” Three days later there was apparently another incident where a mouse was observed.

The plane was, however, not flown into Kansas City for inspection until 11 days later.

Exterminators in Kansas City apparently told workers there could have been anywhere from 900 to 1000 mice on the plane. American Airlines disputes that number. In a written statement to the station, the airline said they found only 17 live mice.

Not sure if three of them were blind or not. The report did not say.

While it’s funny to joke about, the pictures of the mouse feces and the damage to the insulation of the plane were not particularly amusing to look at.

The airline says that the aircraft has now been completely rodent-proofed, all wiring inspected (and replaced if it had chewed on we assume), and, as of this week, the aircraft was back in the air.

As one industry expert said who was interviewed as part of the report, “It’s probably now the cleanest, safest aircraft in the fleet.”

Meanwhile, the line of the day goes to American Airlines, which said that the situation was an anomaly, and while an occasional mouse has boarded, infestations simply don’t happen that often.

As one distinguished airline observer we know noted after reading that line,

“We see a little StuAArt Little-type mouse, holding his little boarding card, strolling onto the aircraft in his little suit, carrying his little rollerboard.”

Just amazing what a drop of roughly 50 cents will do. Most airline stocks closed higher today — as the price of oil declined a smidgen.

Last week when we published PBB, we were told that there was a possibility that negotiators for AFA would sit down Friday — after having just won representation of the flight attendants at Northwest Airlines on Thursday, and resume negotiations.

That didn’t happen.

But talks will restart tomorrow, Tuesday, with AFA-CWA negotiators in place.

The judge here has given both sides until July 17 to come to terms on a new contract. If not, Northwest has been given the authority to impose contract terms on the group.

Any bets on what is going to happen with these talks?

If you are at home tonight and looking for something to watch — you might want to tune into the National Geographic Channel which can be found on your friendly cable or satellite channel lineup.

On tap tonight is a program that details the events of FedEx Flight 705 from April 1994. This flight, as you may recall, was hijacked by a suicidal crew member wielding a hammer and a spear gun. Apparently this is the first time the crew of the aircraft has authorized a production detailing the events, and members of the crew are interviewed as part of the program. This is part of the channel’s “Air Emergency” series.

The program, entitled, “Suicide Attack” airs tonight at 10 PM EDT. It will also air Tuesday, July 11, at 1 AM, EDT.