An unusual incident occurred on an Arkia flight from Israel to Greece when bags containing rat pups were discovered in a service cart loaded onto the plane. The find was made after landing, while the aircraft was parked on the ground in Greece, and an investigation was opened to determine how it happened.
Arkia says the problem originated with a cart supplied by the catering company Tamam. The airline said the cart came from Tamam’s dry-goods storage warehouse, not from food intended for passengers, and that it was removed from service immediately after the discovery. Arkia said there was never any contact between the find and the food for passengers or crew, and that the meals loaded onto the flight were not damaged or affected.
Tamam rejected Arkia’s claims and shifted responsibility back to the airline. The company said any attempt to cast doubt on Tamam, which supplies hundreds of thousands of meals a month and operates under strict food-safety standards, could be answered in court if needed. Tamam said the cart in question contained only soft drinks, was checked on every flight by an Arkia crew member and a food-factory representative, and was confirmed to be fully proper when loaded. The case was discovered later, during the plane’s stop in Greece.
According to information obtained by ynet, an initial Tamam inquiry found that the cart contained bags with rat pups inside a closed service trolley supplied for the flight. A flight attendant also reportedly noticed disposable Styrofoam cups with bite marks, which later explained the damage found in the cart. Before the story reached the media, Arkia was told that Tamam had launched an immediate investigation. Possible lines of inquiry include whether the event was connected to pest-control work carried out by the same extermination company that treated mice at Ben-Gurion Airport and, under Health Ministry supervision, Tamam’s catering complex. No official conclusions have been released yet.
