Report Details

Carrier: American Airlines

Flight Number: 0051

Date & Time of Incident: 02/02/2023 12:00 AM

Type of Incident: Death

Description of Animal: Breed: American-Shorthair

Animal Name: Stormi

Description of Incident: On Thursday, February 02, 2023, 07:20 GMT, one Husky dog (Ajax) and one Domestic Short Hair cat (Stormi) were dropped off by a representative of the shipping Agent, Global Freight Management (c/o owner Elizabeth Avara) at the American Airlines Cargo Terminal in London Heathrow, UK (LHR), for air transport under air waybill 001-69046110. Both were scheduled to travel to Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (DFW), on flight AA0051/02-Feb LHR-DFW (etd 09:55 eta 14:23). The animals traveled on the scheduled flight and were offloaded from the aircraft upon arrival at DFW. The cargo runner was tasked with retrieving 4 ULD’s/dollies from the arrival gate, one of which contained the animals. Notification was received, that during transport from the gate to the Cargo Terminal at DFW, the excess end of the ratcheting strap, used to secure the cat’s kennel to the ULD, had become entangled in the wheels of the dolly, which applied significant pressure to the kennel, eventually crushing the top half of the kennel and allowing the cat to escape. While still in motion, the cat attempted to jump to the next dolly, however landed on the ground and was immediately struck by the wheel and killed on impact. The cargo runner operating the bobtail, was flagged down by others witnessing the event, stopped and immediately determined the cat was deceased. The owner was notified of the event, giving authorization to have the cat’s remains cremated and disposed of.

Cause of Incident: Loose end of ratcheting strap securing the kennel to the ULD became entangled in the dolly wheels, crushing the kennel.

Corrective Action Taken: Investigation ongoing and will update with corrective action steps once completed.