The poor old mouse has had a rough time through history but always seems to make it out on top.

I was fascinated/bemused by the announcement that a mouse probably ended up costing British Airways 290,000 Euro last week.

Flight BA285, was due to leave London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 at 10:40am on 1st March for San Franciso. Just before push back, a mouse was found on board.

Because mice can gnaw through the wiring on aeroplanes, a wide-ranging check had to done before the plane could take off. There are thousands of cables on a 777 which control everything from Hydraulics to Rudder. A chewed cable could be disastrous at any stage of the flight.

Passengers disembarked and were provided with lunch in the four hours it took to get a replacement aircraft. The flight left at 3:21pm. According to Simon Calder of The Independent, under the EU compensation rules, each passenger is entitled to €600 ($USD631). Plus passengers who missed connections in San Francisco would be entitled to Hotel rooms. If the passengers at the other end in San Francisco received the same compensation, then BA is looking at close to quarter of a million dollars cost.

Because of a mouse.

British Airways said: “We know almost everyone wants to fly with us to San Francisco, but on this occasion there was one very small customer who we had to send back to the gate. Everyone with two legs is now on their way to California, and we are sorry for the delay.”