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Talk about panic in the sky. Throw a rat on an airplane full of people who have nowhere to run and see what ensues.

This scenario could be a recipe for disaster, but thankfully it did not end that way Friday morning on a Chinese airliner.

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A rat was seen aboard a Loong Air flight after the plane departed the eastern city of Hangzhou, Mashable reported.

The aircraft was headed for the southwestern resort city of Xishuangbanna when the pilot decided to turn around and head back to Hangzhou, Mashable said.

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"Considering the threat to passenger health posed by the rat and the possibility of endangering flight safety by biting through wires, the captain flew back to port in the best interests of public health and safety," the airline said on its official microblog.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Loong Air said the rat was not a pet and the airline was investigating how it got on the plane. 

The airline also said employees fumigated and disinfected the plane after its return, Xinhua reported.

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