Crocodile causes panic as it wanders around plane in mid-air

 

Published: 10:12PM BST 31 Jul 2009

Baby Crocodiles like the one let lose on a plane from Abu Dhabi. Photo: Reuters

Passengers screamed as the wayward foot-long reptile made its way under seats and down the aisle.

Crew members on the flight, which originated in Abu Dhabi, managed to corner and capture the crocodile and handed it over to authorities when the plane landed in Cairo.

An airport security official said the animal, which none of the passengers claimed, would be given to Cairo's Giza zoo.

Transporting exotic animals in and out of the Egypt is illegal.

The airport official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.

In August 2007 the authorities seized more than 250 baby crocodiles, snakes and chameleons which a Saudi man tried to smuggle out of Egypt. The menagerie also ended up at Giza zoo.