Airplane Trolley Infested With Baby Rats: Airline & Catering Company Point Fingers

A catering cart loaded onto the flight of Israeli airline Arkia turned out to be full of baby rats. That’s of course an unpleasant discovery, but what’s perhaps even more interesting is the controversy this is causing, with both the airline and the catering company pointing fingers at one another, to the point that they’re threatening lawsuits.

Galley cart full of baby rats discovered on Arkia flight

Baby rats were discovered in the service cart on an Arkia flight from Greece to Israel, as can be seen in pictures that are circulating online. While critters (rats, snakes, etc.) sometimes make their way onto planes, what was alarming is that they were all inside a service cart, suggesting they were loaded onto the plane by someone (otherwise you’d assume they’d be running around the cabin, or something).

For what it’s worth, the service cart had been loaded onto the plane by Tel Aviv-based catering company TMM, so it was actually loaded in Israel, before the flight to Greece, though it was only discovered on the return flight.

The question is, which party was responsible for this oversight? Did the catering company really supply the airline with a trolley full of baby rats, or…?

Airline & catering company at odds over responsibility

Arkia claims that the cart with the baby rats came from the dry-goods storage facility of catering company TMM, and did not contain any food intended for passengers. The airline also clarified that upon discovery, the cart was immediately taken out of service, and there was no contact between that and any of the food served on the flight. The airline released the following statement:

“Arkia views the incident seriously, demands that TMM conduct a comprehensive and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the case, and expects to receive full explanations along with corrective steps to ensure that an incident of this kind does not recur in the future.”

Fair enough, right? Well, TMM rejects all the claims made by the airline, stating that the cart was inspected and approved before the flight’s departure, and only contained soft drinks. The company also clarified that it’s the airline’s responsibility to inspect the card before utilizing it, and demanded that Arkia conduct an urgent investigation to determine how such an incident could happen. Per a statement from the company:

“The trolley in question, which contained soft drinks only, was inspected as on every flight by an Arkia crew member and a representative of the catering facility, who confirmed that the trolley was fully compliant when it was loaded. The incident was discovered later, while the aircraft was parked in Greece.”

“Any attempt to cast doubt on the TMM facility, which supplies hundreds of thousands of meals per month and operates under the strictest food safety standards, is unacceptable and will, if necessary, be addressed in court.”

Obviously I wasn’t there, so I can’t say with certainty which party was responsible. I will say, the logical assumption most people would make is that the rats were in the galley cart when they were loaded onto the aircraft, because how else would all the rats end up in there otherwise? The only other logical explanation, as I see it, is that someone was committing a malicious act or prank.

But I guess the question is who is fully responsible for that. The catering company claims that the carts were inspected before departure in Tel Aviv by both the Arkia crew and a representative of the catering facility. Is that actually true and verified, though? Is standard procedure for Arkia crews to carefully go through every cart before departure, even for catering that’s intended for the return?

And if the Arkia crew skipped that step, to what extent does that make them liable in the event that this was actually done by the catering facility?

Bottom line

A galley cart infested with baby rats was discovered on an Arkia flight from Greece to Israel. The catch is that the cart had actually been loaded in Tel Aviv prior to the outbound flight, but this discovery was only made on the return.

The airline blames the catering company, claiming the cart was untouched up until that point. The catering company blames the airline, stating that the trolley was inspected by both parties, and that it must’ve happened at a subsequent point. The company is even threatening to sue.

What an unpleasant discovery. It sure seems likely to me in general that a galley cart infested with creatures would be originating from the facility where the trolley was loaded, but of course we can’t say that conclusively.

What do you make of this Arkia galley cart baby rat situation?