Man caught smuggling live rabbit in his jacket on Coast flight

A man has been caught by Australian Federal Police after he smuggled a live rabbit in his jacket on to a Gold Coast flight.

A Gold Coast Airport source, who wishes to remain anonymous, said they was left dumbfounded after the passenger was found with the bunny on a Rex flight departing from Coolangatta.

The flight, which was bound for Sydney around 1.30pm on Saturday, was held up after he made it through security and check-ins with the furry hitchhiker inside his jacket.

“Once all passengers were on board, the cabin manager called up saying there’s a passenger on board holding a live rabbit,” the source said.

“My first thoughts were, ‘Did I just hear that wrong?’,” they said.

“We were all so lost because it’s never happened to anyone of us that were on shift.”

Staff called the Australian Federal Police for further guidance and offloaded the passenger.

The man was understood to have checked in with the rabbit under his jacket, putting it under the garment on a tray to go through x-ray screening at security.

“We all wondered how the f**k it made it through security,” the source said. “The security officer who was monitoring the screens didn’t pick up on it because it was moving and it would’ve blurred the image so it just looked like a blob.”

The source said it was the first time that any of the crew had encountered an incident like this.

A Gold Coast Airport spokesperson confirmed a passenger had “concealed” a live rabbit through security screening. The spokesperson said they were going to look at how to work on identifying incidents like this in the future.

“Our state-of-the-art screening equipment is designed to detect threats to security and while that will always be the focus of our team, this has highlighted an opportunity for further nonaviation specific training,” they said.

They said pet animals were allowed on-board flights in Australia if their owners followed all protocols and they were checked-in prior to boarding.

However, unlicensed pet rabbits are banned in Queensland, with a fine of up to $65,275.

Australian Federal Police did not charge the man and advised him to make alternative arrangements for his pet before future travel.