Cat Spends 19 Days in Plane's Cargo Hold

PHOENIX (April 19) - Billy the cat is one well-traveled feline.

He boarded a US Airways flight from Phoenix to Philadelphia on March 29 with his owners, Guenther and Ingrid Koelbl, and was supposed to be transferred to their Germany-bound plane.

Instead, he escaped from his cage and spent 19 days in the cargo hold, somehow finding enough food and water to survive.

Workers discovered him on the jet last week at Manchester Airport in New Hampshire after hearing him meow.

He was treated at an animal hospital and is doing well, said Guenther Koelbl. The cat will be reunited with his family on Wednesday.

''For sure, that plane is definitely free of mice,'' said Guenther, who lived in the Phoenix area for three years before moving to Kirchdorf, a small town east of Munich.

He said the family is just relieved to have Billy back.

''The worst thing was not knowing what happened to him. We don't see them as cats, we see them as family members,'' he said.