Flight Diverted By 2,186 Gassy Goats

Open Jaw

An SQ flight was travelling from ADL to KUL when the pilots received an alert that the smoke alarms in the cargo hold had been activated. The plane made an emergency landing in DPS, but when the aircraft was inspected, no fire or smoke was discovered.


However, there were 2,186 goats travelling on that flight…2,186 very flatulent goats.


According to Aviation Herald, the gas produced by those aromatic farm animals was enough to trigger the smoke alarms on the Boeing 747 freighter plane.


It may have been smelly, but it wasn’t actually perceived as dangerous, so the flight was able to take off after almost three hours on the ground, later landing in KL without any other gas-or-goat related incident.


Although an SQ spokesperson confirmed to TODAYOnline that Flight 7108 was carrying a shipment of goats, it declined to validate the claim that the goats' gaseous emissions caused the alert.


"That is an assumption being made by media, which we are unable to confirm," the spokesperson said.


Goats, like cows, deer, giraffes and sheep are in a class of mammals called ruminants. Most of them have four compartments in their stomachs, and digesting food is a multi-step process that involves regurgitating whatever they've eaten before swallowing it again.


Their stomachs can contain hundreds of microbes that aid in the digestion process, but also produce methane gas. The methane gas is then expelled, which can have a significant effect on the environment.


According to The Telegraph, ruminants are responsible for 2% of the methane produced in the United States, 25% of the methane produced in Great Britain and a jaw-dropping 90% of methane emissions in New Zealand.

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