Cat left on plane by mistake and makes 3 trips covering 4,500 miles: “How could this be?”

Mittens, a Maine cat, was found neglected in the cargo hold of a plane and traveled between New Zealand and Australia three times in 24 hours.

Mittens, 8, was booked with her family on a one-way trip from Christchurch, New Zealand to their new home in Melbourne, Australia on January 13. But his wife, Margo Nias, said Wednesday that she was waiting for Mittens to get off the plane. Cargo area, three hours passed without any sign of the cat.

It was then that the ground crew told Nayas that the plane had returned to New Zealand – with Mittens still on board. The return trip involves about 7.5 hours in the air.

“I said, ‘How can this be? How can this be? Oh my God,'” Nias said.

The distance from Christchurch, New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia is about 1,500 miles — meaning the plane traveled about 4,500 miles before it met Nias.

An Air New Zealand pilot was told there were extra passengers on the flight and Mittens said he turned on the heater in the cargo hold to keep them comfortable. Nyas was told that a parked wheelchair beat the baggage handler’s view of Mittens’ house.

“It wasn’t a good start to our new life in Melbourne because we didn’t have a family and we weren’t whole,” she says.

But the saga had a happy ending. The pet organization that Nias used to arrange Mittens’ trip met the cat on her way back to Christchurch and made sure she got back on the plane for another trip to Melbourne – this time one way.

Mittens lost weight but was unharmed.

“She basically just ran right into my arms and dived in here and did the biggest crush of all time,” Ness said. “It was such a relief.”

The airline will pay all expenses related to the trip and apologize for the inconvenience, the airline said in a statement.

Spokeswoman Alisha Armstrong said: “We will work closely with our land inspector in Melbourne to ensure this does not happen again.

Meanwhile, Mittens, not usually a loving pet, is “the most fun she’s ever had,” Ness said.

“The cat is now getting as much attention as she needs, because we are completely and utterly relieved to have her back.”

He denies it He told the New Zealand Herald. As soon as she received a sympathy call from the acting sales manager of the airline.

“He accepted my concern and said he would feel the same way if it was a family pet,” Ness told the newspaper.