Report Details

Carrier: Delta Air Lines

Flight Number: 1084

Date and Time of Incident February 8, 2012, 3:00 PM

Type of Incident: Death

Description of Animal Chinchillas

Description of Incident: Two pet chinchillas were arrived unresponsive in Minneapolis and were determined to have died during the flight from Anchorage.

Cause of Incident: The pets were staged for loading late in the boarding process to provide protection from winter weather. They were mistakenly loaded in the baggage bin with a shipment containing a small amount of dry ice. Necropsies were performed but did not identify a cause of death only that the animals were subject to some sort of cardio-vascular insufficiency. The carbon dioxide from the dry ice could be a plausible explanation for the cardio-vascular insufficiency and may have caused or contributed to the deaths. Other causes may have been the chinchilla’s heat sensitivity in addition to normal stress related to transportation although the aircraft bin ventilation system was checked and the animals were not exposed to high temperatures during flight.

Corrective Action Taken:
All Load Supervisors at the originating station were counseled on this incident over and above their annual training covering the system wide ban against loading live animals with shipments containing any amounts of dry ice. New local procedures have been instituted at the origin station to include a review by the Operations Office to verify shipments with dry ice are not comingled with live animals before approving the dispatch of the aircraft.