An Aussie pilot was taking pleasure in a peaceful begin to his graveyard shift recently when an abrupt eruption of “strange” sounds led him to the surprising– and temporarily stressful– realisation that he was not the only one.
David Phillips, with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Launceston, Tasmania, was completing some documents in the pilot’s area following door when he heard what seemed like “bumps and scratches” originating from the dark airplane garage.
“I thought It may be someone fumbling in the dark — my colleague had just left to go home at the end of their shift,” he informedYahoo News Australia “I wondered if he had left something behind and had gone to the hangar to fetch it. [It was] not very loud, but definitely unexpected.”
Just as he got in the structure, he quickly saw the wrongdoer: an interested brushtail possum, rushing throughout the flooring However, the fight had actually only simply started.
Pilot look for daring brushtail possum
Phillips got a lantern and began to look for the saucy nighttime marsupial, yet really did not see anything– aside from “unmentionable traces” left by the stowaway on the airplane– for a number of mins.
With no place else to look and a “nervous gulp”, the pilot claimed his heart was competing when he drew back the cabin drape. “It seemed like the only place left to find it hiding, and I had no idea how it was going to react. I was a little relieved when I saw nothing but then I had no idea if the possum was on the plane or not.
“I then turned on all the hangar lights and found a more powerful torch.”
Possum arrived ‘actually excellent hiding location’
During his review around, Phillips found the possum’s brush tail put behind the airplane’s foot pedals. “It had climbed right up into the footwell and up under the dash. It was a really good hiding place,” he claimed, discussing the animal had “no response whatsoever”.
“I shined my torch and it just stayed still and quiet. I can only guess that it was hiding from me — playing possum if you like.” Now, Phillips just had to figure out how to entice the little guy out.
“Luckily, I had an apple that I was able to slice up and place close to the stairs. It seemed to do the job, at least coaxing our furry friend out of hiding in the front of the plane to the stairs at the back.”
But it appeared the possum was enjoying his new home and refused to budge from there.
“I guess he saw me with his night vision because he just sat and stared. This went on for 10 minutes or more,” said Phillips, who eventually called in the on-duty engineer “to assist with the removal of our unexpected guest”.
Creature leaves traces throughout airplane
The RFDS’s brand-new close friend was ultimately enticed “out the door at the rear of the plane gently with a broom”. The pair spent the next few hours cleaning and conducting safety checks.
“Let’s just say that anything you could imagine a possum leaving behind — was left behind, on the floor and even on the pilot’s seat!” the pilot claimed.
However it did take one reward. “I’m happy to say that the apple was left outside the hangar and was all gone by morning.”
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