Runaway dog forces Brazilian airport to close

One of Brazil's busiest airports was forced to close after a pet dog escaped onto its runway. The pinscher, standing no more than 12 inches high, interrupted operations at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, the biggest city in South America.

He escaped from his owner's arms as she attempted to put him into her car in an airport hangar after the dog arrived on a TAM cargo flight. Airport supervisors and firefighters were alerted by radio and began to organise a search for the animal.



Both arrivals and departures from Congonhas, which is in the south of Sao Paulo, were suspended for the next 24 minutes and four flights suffered delays as a result. One flight was diverted to Viracopos, around 60 miles away, while a pilot on another plane waiting to land had to explain to his passengers that their arrival was being delayed due to an escaped canine.

Controllers said they had decided to stop operations just after midday on Thursday due to concerns that there could be an accident if the dog was sucked into a plane's engines or collided with an aircraft on the runway. However, flights were allowed to recommence after a brief search despite the fact that the dog, which had arrived from an undisclosed location, had still not been found.