Report Details

Carrier: Alaska Airlines Flight: 138 (Anchorage, AK to Chicago-O’Hare, IL) Date of incident: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Time of incident: Approximately 10:50 A.M. ET

Description of animal (including name): A female eight-year-old American bull dog/pit-bull mix.

Narrative description of incident: Upon the arrival of the baggage cart planeside, the Anchorage ramp agent found, an eight year old dog, out of her kennel and loose inside the baggage cart. Airline personnel immediately tried to block each side of the baggage cart while a third agent went to notify the pet’s owner, and to ask her to help get the dog back into her kennel. During this time the dog escaped from the baggage cart and ran for over an hour prior to being caught. The dog and her owner were both rebooked for same flight the next day. It appeared that the dog scraped her nose during her kennel escape and agents found some blood inside the kennel.

Narrative description of the cause of the incident: An eight year old dog escaped from her kennel. She was later found with a scrape to her nose. The customer told the ramp staff that the last person to secure the kennel was the TSA agent. The customer also said she told the TSA agent that she knew that her dog could open the kennel door, but she didn’t have anything to secure the kennel door with. There is no evidence to suggest that the airline’s handling contributed to the animal’s escape.

Narrative description of any corrective action taken in response to the incident: No action required and no photographs available