TRAVELNETDAILY
'Stewardess, there's a live frog in my salad!'
Airline passenger discovers airborne amphibian during in-flight meal

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Posted: May 4, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com


It's not easy eating greens, especially when there's a live frog sitting atop your in-flight meal.


Leap-year special? (courtesy: The New Zealand Herald)

Such is the case of an airline passenger looking to jump into her salad, only to find a 1.5-inch frog perched on a cucumber.

The incident took place on a Qantas flight from Melbourne, Australia, to Wellington, New Zealand, in February, but is just now leaping into the headlines.

According to the New Zealand Herald, the woman had the presence of mind to slap the lid back on her meal, preventing the airborne amphibian from escaping, and a flight attendant was summoned to remove the salad container.

The salads were reportedly in sealed bowls from an external contractor, but the airline checked the dishes only randomly.

The whistling tree frog, a native of Australia, was taken from the plane and "euthanized" by being put in a freezer.

Tree frogs are reportedly common in the area where the produce was grown, and a spokesman for the airline told the paper Qantas had changed its lettuce supplier and introduced "additional procedures into the salad supply process."

Cyril Evans, spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Quarantine Service, said it's the first time he's heard of a frog hitching a ride.

"Insects and rodents have been found on other aircraft but this frog could carry parasites or other diseases that posed a danger to native frogs or even other species," he said.

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