Hide and squeak: Passengers flying to Spain endured a flight to nowhere after a rodent was spotted on board

• A flight from Stockholm to Spain's Costa del Sol turned around earlier this month.
• It diverted after a rodent sighting on board, a spokesperson for SAS told Business Insider.
• A replacement plane landed in Málaga five hours later than the first one was scheduled to.

Passengers in Europe had a grueling flight to nowhere earlier this month due to an unusual passenger.

A Scandinavian Airlines flight turned around after a rodent was spotted on board.

Flight 1583 departed Stockholm Arlanda Airport on February 7 and was supposed to land in Málaga, Spain, four hours later.

However, almost two hours into the journey, the Airbus A320neo U-turned while flying over Belgium, according to flight-tracking data.

It flew back to Sweden, touching down in the capital 3 hours and 20 minutes after taking off.

In a statement to Business Insider, an airline spokesperson said the plane turned around "after a suspected rodent sighting on board."

"We followed established procedures and, as a precaution, returned the aircraft to Arlanda to carry out standard inspections of both the aircraft and relevant suppliers," they added. "Passengers were boarded on a new aircraft to Malaga shortly after."

SAS did not confirm exactly what kind of rodent was spotted, but Flightradar24 reported that it was a mouse.

Diverting a plane due to a rodent might seem bizarre, but loose animals on board can pose a safety risk. It could potentially damage electrical wiring or other components, leading to system faults or, in rare cases, a fire.

Data from Flightradar24 shows an extra flight, operated under the call sign SAS95T, flew from Stockholm to Málaga later the same day.

It arrived around 3:30 p.m., five hours later than passengers were first scheduled to arrive in the Costa del Sol.

This wasn't the first time that such an unwelcome passenger has caused a flight to turn around.

In 2024, One Mile at a Time reported that an SAS flight to Malága returned to Copenhagen after a mouse was found in somebody's in-flight meal, before it escaped into the cabin.

Later that year, a TAP Air Portugal plane was grounded after 132 hamsters escaped from their cages inside the cargo hold.