Woman passenger held after pet escape delays flight

A female passenger has been punished after taking a pet onto an airplane without proper safety and quarantine protocols, Shanghai police said.

Guo, 34, was detained on Tuesday after her sugar glider escaped after she boarded a flight for Jinan in Shandong Province.

The flight was delayed and the pet later captured inside the cockpit, according to police.

Sugar gliders, small marsupials, are much like hamsters but closely related to kangaroos and koalas. They have become popular pets.

A post on Weibo said passengers were asked to leave the plane after the pet escaped from Guo's carry-on luggage, causing a delay of over an hour.

Guo received administrative detention for endangering public transportation safety, police said.