Man and Monkey Detained at La Guardia

[emshighway]

There was some serious monkey business going on at LaGuardia Airport Tuesday. Extremely serious, in fact.

A spokesperson from Spirit Airlines told WNBC.com that someone smuggled a marmoset onto a flight Tuesday.

Flight No. 180 left from Lima, Peru, flew to Fort Lauderdale and then onto New York, where officials from Animal Care and Control were waiting for tha man and his marmoset, a type of monkey native to South America.

It appears the man tucked the marmoset under his hat when going through customs. The marmoset stayed there when the plane took off, but started fidgeting around, so the man took the monkey out and held it in his arms. The monkey was never loose on the plane.

It is against the law to transport a monkey overseas, and the man didn't have a permit of any kind or let anyone know about it. It is possible the animal is some kind of a helper, much like a seeing-eye dog.

It's not clear if the monkey is dangerous.

If the man is able to prove he can get the monkey shipped back overseas, it could be returned to him. Otherwise, the monkey is being taken away.

[AirtrafficController]

That will be cool to see it is given to the LGA tower and the monkey can help Ryan :D

Seriously, transporting a live animal from overseas has a chance of spreading a disease but I do not know whats the future of the monkey.

[emshighway]

He has been named the new chairman of the PANYNJ. :shock:

[hiss srq]

He has been named the new chairman of the PANYNJ. :shock:

No do not be a pessimist, he might be able to do a better job. Maybe 10E will be fixed now. Either that or we will all get free bananas! :lol: Actually, I would probably train the monket to smack Matt with things in the tower. Perhaps teach it to use a DSLR too.

[AirtrafficController]

Here is the monkey:

[mirrodie]

He has been named the new chairman of the PANYNJ. :shock:

I thought he ascended to head TSA guru? Oh wait, thats another ape :mrgreen:

It's not clear if the monkey is dangerous.

Marmosets are dangerous. Dangerously cute.

Great examples of earlier primate life and the usually give birth to fraternal twins! And the father usually plays the role of housewife.

Reminds me of a true story as told in college by my honors thesis advisor.

She was on a flight from Madagascar to NY. She had lemur on the plane, in a carrier. Somewhere over water, the thing gnaws through the carrier.

Next thing you know, she wakes up and this lemur is standing on the top of the coach seat staring at her.

The next 15 minutes are spent trying to A) calm down all the pax in the plane "don't worry, he won't bite" and b) trying to catch him and hold on to it for the rest of the flight.

[Matt Molnar]

Man and Monkey Detained at La Guardia

By Sewell Chan

Updated, 10:40 p.m.

A man and his monkey traveled from Peru to New York City by way of South Florida, alarming aviation and law enforcement officials.

The man did not report the baby spider monkey when he boarded the flight in Peru, which departed at 10:55 p.m. local time on Monday. “The monkey business started in Lima, Peru,” said Alison Russell, a spokeswoman for Spirit Airlines, which is based in Miramar, Fla., and began service to Lima in June. “How the passenger got through security, I can’t begin to say.”

The monkey was not noticed when the first leg of his flight landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, north of Miami, at 6:01 a.m. today, even though the man had to go through immigration screening upon landing in Florida.

It was only on the second leg of the flight, which departed Fort Lauderdale at 11:58 a.m., bound for New York City, that the monkey was noticed. More...

[Mateo]

Nice marmot.

[Nonstop2AUH]

I totally missed the news about Spirit going to Lima, but I do know they don't serve meals...

[emshighway]

I thought he ascended to head TSA guru? Oh wait, thats another ape :mrgreen:

Nope, he was told he was over qualified :roll: