Dallas Homes for Sale
Moving The Gorilla
On October 16, 1996, travel plans for the people on Delta Flight 709 were delayed when one of the passengers became upset during a stopover in Salt Lake City. The passenger, a 490-pound gorilla, named Vip, had been traveling for over 12 hours in the cargo hold.
Having endured a stopover in Cincinnati and a change of planes in Salt Lake City on his way from Boston to his new home in Seattle, Vip expressed his exasperation by rattling his reinforced aluminum cage, resulting in a "rather loud" noise. "It just turned into a long day," said Brian Rutledge of Boston's Franklin Park Zoo, where Vip had lived.
"And when you weigh 490 pounds, you can let people know you've had enough." He was unloaded in Salt Lake City where he spent the night in Hogle Zoo before continuing on to Seattle on the ground.
