The Captain and I were getting the plane ready for a flight from Philadelphia to Seattle, and he was dealing with a maintenance problem. All of a sudden the Lead Agent and the Station Manager came into the cockpit to explain that there was going to be a lady and her daughter with a "Special Needs" animal who would be sitting in the First Class cabin. It was unusual for the Agent much less the Station Manager to make such an appearance, but when they explained that the "Special Needs" animal was a P-I-G, we all broke out laughing. The Agent advised us that the lady had some kind of Doctor's note explaining the circumstances of the "Special Needs" animal and that the pig must be allowed to accompany the woman passenger. Apparently, the lady had a heart condition and the comforting presence of the pig would prevent her from having a heart attack. She had various letters backing her up. The Agent advised that he had explained the situation to everyone in First Class and they were okay with the situation. We continued our duties and got ready for the push. One of the Flight Attendants from the back came into the cockpit and said: "Do you know there is a pig on board?" We said: "Yes - Everyone knows by now: Agents, Station Manager, The Dispatcher and the passengers." She left and then came back and said: "It's a really BIG PIG." We were wrapped up in our duties and blew her off. We didn't realize it at the time, but was she ever right! The pig weighed over 100 pounds. It was a BIG PIG.

Curiosity finally got the best of me when we were about halfway to Seattle, so I went back to take a look. The pig was lying on the floor between the bulkhead and the first row of seats on the left. He was sleeping with a blanket over the top of him with the lady and her daughter's feet resting on his back. At the time it seemed like a major non-event - Wrong.

We landed in Seattle and everyone got off except for the crew, the lady and her daughter and of course - the pig. The pig was still asleep. When the lady woke him up, the pig started to squeal. He had a harness on with a leash. The lady and her daughter were trying to get him to leave the aircraft, but the pig had other ideas. The lady was pulling on the leash and the daughter was pushing from behind. Oblivious to everyone's desires, the pig headed for the galley. The lady and her daughter finally got him turned around and headed for the jetway where he promptly left a large and smelly mess. They finally got him into the terminal which had beautiful marble floors and the pig promptly peed on the floor. The marble floor was now so slick that the pig fell over and with his incredibly short legs couldn't right himself. He was once again squealing like a stuck pig. That seemed rather appropriate. Soon a crowd had gathered to watch and laugh at the spectacle. People were taking pictures and a couple of Japanese tourists were trying to get their picture taken with the pig.

The Captain and I realized that this was not going to be the last we heard about the pig. Sure enough, it made the papers nationwide, made CNN and became additional material for Jay Leno's monologue - Just another routine flight.