Giant rabbit dies on trans-Atlantic United flight

LONDON — Call it the curse of O’Hare.

Less than three weeks after a passenger was dragged off a United Airlines flight at the Chicago airport, the carrier found itself facing another public-relations fiasco on Wednesday after a 3-footlong rabbit died on a flight from Britain.

The continental giant rabbit, Simon, who was bound for O’Hare, had a veterinary checkup three hours before takeoff from Heathrow Airport near London and was “fit as a fiddle,” his breeder, Annette Edwards, told the British tabloid The Sun. The animal was traveling to a buyer in the United States.

Simon died in the cargo section of a Boeing 767 sometime after takeoff, Edwards said. The cause of death remained a mystery Wednesday.

“Something very strange has happened, and I want to know what,” Edwards said.

A United Airlines spokesman said the company is investigating.

“The safety and well-being of all the animals that travel with us is of the utmost importance to United Airlines and our PetSafe team,” a United spokesman, Kevin Johnston, said in an emailed response.

The airline is still recovering from a public uproar over a video showing a passenger being forcibly taken off a United Express flight at O’Hare before it could depart for Louisville, Kentucky.

According to the mostrecent figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation, released in February, 35 animals died in transit on 17 airlines in the United States in 2015. United accounted for 14 of those deaths, plus nine injuries. The carrier transported nearly 100,000 animals in that period.

“I’ve sent rabbits all around the world, and nothing like this has happened before,” said Edwards, whose breeding operation is in Worcestershire, England.

Only 10 months old, Simon had been expected to grow into the world’s biggest rabbit, surpassing his father, Darius, who grew to be 4 feet 4 inches.

Continental giants are an ancient breed, descended, appropriately enough, from Flemish giants. They are known to be gentle, friendly and intelligent, as rabbits go. An enthusiasts’ website says owners should keep “cables, wires, shoes, papers and anything important” out of a giant’s way, as it will chew them to bits.