| The Digital Tradition Folk Song Server | |||
|
|||
SONG CHALLENGE WINNER!
The Song Challenge: When
Pigs Fly OR Never Say Never Again (Philadelphia PA) In a bizarre
episode that rattled flight attendants and embarrassed airline officials, a
300-pound pig was put in the first-class cabin of a US Airways Boeing 757 and
flown with 200 other passengers on a nonstop six-hour flight across the country
from Philadelphia to Seattle. All went well, for most of the flight.
Somehow, the pig's owners, described as two women, one in her 30s, the other a
senior citizen, convinced the airline that it was a "therapeutic companion
pet," like a guide dog for the blind. "I guess it was supposed
to be a Seeing Eye pig," a witness aboard the flight said. "Frankly, I
couldn't tell what kind of therapeutic service it was providing. All I know is,
it was ugly, and it pooped." A chagrined airline spokesman provided
few details. "We can confirm that the pig traveled, and we can confirm that
it will never happen again," US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said.
"Let me stress that. It will never happen again." An internal
report said the owners said they had a doctor's note that required them to fly
with the animal, and that they described pig as weighing only 13 pounds, so
based on this info, authorization was given," the report said. Witnesses
said the pig's owners exhibited no obvious impairments. "I'd estimate
300 pounds," one source aboard the flight said. "It took four people
to wheel it in, past security and to the gate. And they were
struggling." Though flight attendants objected, the pig was cleared
for takeoff and seated on the floor, in the first row of first class. It was so
big, much of its bulk extended into the aisle, according to the report.
"It didn't smell; it was a clean pig," a witness on the flight said.
"It slept almost the whole time." Few passengers complained. It
wasn't till the aircraft taxied into Seattle that the pig wreaked havoc.
Squealing loudly, it ran loose through the aircraft and tried to enter the
cockpit. It finally found refuge in the food galley, where it refused to
budge. Finally, the pig was lured from the galley with food. Then,
the owners -- struggling to control the pig -- dragged it out of the aircraft
and into the Jetway. That's where it left its mess. "Another
passenger on the flight advised pig owner that she picked up her pig's feces and
she was not happy about that," the report stated. "Once the pig
was off aircraft, another passenger had to push while the two women pulled to
get it in the elevator. "The whole time, the pig was squealing so loudly
everyone in the terminal heard it." Federal Aviation Administration
officials in Seattle said they were unfamiliar with the incident, but said they
would investigate.
When Pigs Fly by The-Siren-Poet
Man has always dreamed of flight
But I never thought to see the day
When pigs began to fly
Someone told a lie you see
So the airline said "it's okay"
And now your pig can fly
300 pounds called 13
So that the pig could get on the flight
First class space became his
This pig most remarkable
A "therapeutic companion pet"
Something I've not heard of
Now I don't understand it
But Grandma said that she needs the pig
Her daughter backed her up
So the pig was on the plane
Sleeping most of the way to Seattle
From Philadelphia
It wasn't until the landing
That the havoc began to ensue
The pig begun squealing
He ran about the aircraft
Tried to enter the cockpit, ending
In the food gallery
300 hundred pounds of pig, squealing
Sitting with no mind to budge at all
Food induced him to rise
Being dragged from the aircraft
By his owners into the Jetway
It's then he left his mess
A passenger he suggested
That the owner should clean up the mess
A thought she didn't like
The pig kept squealing loudly
All the while he was being pushed and pulled
On the elevator
The entire terminal heard--
Ending his flight by squealing-- that pig
Who had gotten to fly
Man has always dreamed of flight
But I never thought to see the day
When pigs began to fly