Cat’s out the bag! Airport security X-ray finds live cat trapped in luggage at JFK Airport

A TSA agent spotted a cat inside a checked bag at JFK airport. Photo / Transportation Security Administration

An airport security worker made a stunning discovery in a traveller’s suitcase after an X-ray machine showed a live cat was trapped inside the bag, authorities said on Tuesday.

A traveller was at JFK International Airport in the US when security staff opened the suitcase that had been checked in, only to find an orange tabby cat stuck inside.

And in a plot twist, the cat didn’t even belong to the traveller.

Photos of the incident also show the cat’s ginger fur poking out the zipper.

“The cat did not belong to the individual with the suitcase, it belonged someone else in the household,” TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein told NBC News.

The cat was safely taken out the bag and rescued before it could have ended up in the pressurised cargo hold.

According to security, it is believed the cat saw the open suitcase and jumped in without the traveller knowing or seeing it.

A TSA agent spotted a cat inside a checked bag at JFK airport. Photo / Transportation Security Administration

Farbstein joked, writing on Twitter that “the X-ray machine is this cat’s new best friend!”

TSA also took to social media, writing: “We’re letting the cat out of the bag on a hiss-toric find. This CATch had our baggage screening officers @JFKairport saying, ‘Come on meow’!

This is how @TSA at @JFKairport spotted the cat in the checked bag. The X-ray machine is this cat's new best friend! https://t.co/Bns0z28BCL

— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) November 22, 2022

Cornell University professor emeritus and animal behavioral expert Katherine Houpt told NBC: “I think one reason is that it’s like a cat bed. Cats like spaces with barriers around it.

“And presumably it smells like the owner and I think they associate it with an impending loss. They might not necessarily want to prevent that owner from going, but perhaps at least they want to signal stress.”

According to TSA’s website, small pets are allowed through the checkpoint. But you’re supposed to take them out of their carrying case when you put the case through the X-ray machine. “You should maintain control of your pet with a leash and remember to remove the leash when carrying your pet through the metal detector,” the website states.