Three sloths have died after they were left on a freezing aircraft at Liege Airport, Belgium for over 24 hours. The deaths occurred during a cold snap at Liege last month, which caused a shutdown of the airport.

Sloths die after plane stuck at airport

The aircraft carrying the sloths, a Qatar Airways Boeing 777F, ended up stuck on the taxiway at Liege Airport over the weekend of January 21-22 due to freezing conditions. The jet landed in Liege on Saturday morning following a flight from Peru but was blocked on the taxiway and couldn't be reached safely in the freezing weather. After it was finally reached 24 hours later, three of the nine sloths being transported onboard were found dead due to low temperatures.

A Qatar Airways spokesperson said,

"We transport tens of thousands of animals each year without incident and we are deeply concerned by this tragic loss."

The severe weather reportedly prevented unloading vehicles from reaching the hold, meaning the animals had to spend around 24 hours on the ground. The sloths - which are accustomed to living in hot and humid tropical weather - are more sensitive to temperature than most mammals. It seems handlers had some form of heating in place for the animals, but for whatever reason, it stopped working.

Wallonia Public Service spokesperson Nicolas Yernaux said,

"The plane was supposed to transit for two hours to refuel, but was not able to take off due to the weather conditions. For a reason that has yet to be determined and that is part of the investigation that we are conducting, the heating stopped or was stopped."

Peru to Malaysia via Liege and Doha

Qatar's cargo flight originated in Peru and was destined for Malaysia via two stops in Liege and Doha. Liege Airport has developed a name for itself as a specialist animal handler, particularly horses, so it is surprising that these deaths occurred at an airport that was well-prepared to care for animals.

Swissport, which provides ground handling services at Liege, has released a statement claiming that it is now aware of the incident but was not required to perform any handling duties on that particular aircraft.

As reported by Politico, Swissport said,

"We are aware of the incident, but don’t have insights into the details of what happened as no handling was required by Swissport."

Qatar Airways is a part of the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) for Live Animals Logistics initiative, which seeks to "establish baseline standards to improve the level of competency, infrastructure and quality management in the handling and transportation of live animals throughout the supply chain."

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Remaining sloths cared for

The Wallonia Public Service spokesperson confirmed that, despite initial media reports stating the animals were sloth bears, they were in fact two-toed sloths which are much smaller than sloth bears. The six remaining sloths were rescued from the cold conditions and placed in heated rooms, where they were rehydrated and checked on by vets - after their condition improved, vets examined the sloths and decided "the best [thing] was for them to reach their final destination, Kuala Lumpur, as quickly as possible."

Who do you think is to blame for this incident? Can airlines do more to ensure the safety of live cargo? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Politico

• 

  Qatar Airways

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  QR/QTR

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Doha Hamad International Airport

  Year Founded:

  1993

  Alliance:

  oneworld

  CEO:

  Akbar Al Baker

  Country:

  Qatar