Airline Boots Anxious Pig From Plane

Time for the when-pigs-fly jokes. A pig was ordered off a US Airways plane at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut this week after crewmembers determined that the animal had become disruptive, says an airline spokeswoman. The pig had been brought aboard the flight by a passenger as an "emotional support animal," says the spokesperson. Such animals are allowed on commercial flights under federal rules as long as they behave, and this one apparently didn't.

Jonathan Skolnik, a University of Massachusetts professor who was on the flight, said he initially thought the female passenger next to him was carrying a duffel bag, then realized it was a pig on a leash. The woman tethered the pig to her armrest, but flying apparently didn't agree with the animal. Skolnik soon smelled a stench, and then the woman struggled to keep the pig under control as it ran back and forth. Both the pig and its owner left the aircraft before it took off. (More strange stuff stories.)