Man smuggles monkey in a hat on plane

A MAN smuggled a monkey onto an plane, stashing the furry, fist-size primate under his hat until passengers spotted it perched on his ponytail, an airline official said.

The monkey escapade began in Lima, Peru, late on Monday, when the man boarded a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the US, said Spirit Airlines spokeswoman, Alison Russell.

After landing on Tuesday morning, the man waited several hours before catching a connecting flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York.