Report Details

Carrier: Alaska Airlines Flight: 729 (TUC/SEA) Date of incident: 6/23/07 Time of incident: Approx. 2:45p

Description of animal (including name): Dog (appeared to be a pug) Name/Age: Unknown

Narrative description of incident: Passenger’s dog traveling in animal hold was found deceased on arrival in SEA. The breed of dog appeared to be pug. No obvious signs of trauma to dog. Upon inspection of kennel it did appear that the latch was not properly closed with the pins in the retaining holes. The kennel door was held closed with TSA tape. A small amount of blood was visible on one of the pieces of tape.

The Seattle Station Supervisor paged the owner of the dog and notified her that her dog had died at some point during her flight. He apologized for her loss and offered her the use of a quiet room if she wished. She declined access to the quiet room. She wanted to know why and how her dog had died. The Supervisor told her that there was no obvious reason. He asked her if the dog had any health issues or if it had been medicated for the flight. She did not answer. She walked away, obviously distraught over the loss of her pet. He left her to grieve for a few minutes then offered her Kleenex. She refused. He again apologized for her loss and asked if there was anything he could do for her. Owner requested that her dog continue to ANC so that she could make arrangements for its remains. The Supervisor ensured that the dog was onboard. He told her that he would contact ANC to have someone assist her on arrival to retrieve the remains of her dog. He was able to upgrade her to First Class for the flight to ANC and informed the flight attendant crew of her loss.

Narrative description of the cause of the incident: Unknown cause of death

Narrative description of any corrective action taken in response to the incident: No action required.