I hate to admit it, but I had a decent-sized iguana (Ctenosaura pectinata, with a nasty disposition,) get loose from my carryon on a WA flight LAX-SFO, but only after biting and clawing a US Customs inspector at LAX (he stuck his hand in the bag in spite of the painted on "caution" sign.) It freaked out and was doing his stress "pushups" in the aisle when I grabbed it and popped it back into the bag; glad it wasn't during today's security-dominated flight regimen!

(Yes, it was a legal immigrant - I was collecting some specimens for Stanford University and I had my USDA APHIS permits in order - but the Customs experience apparently messed up the zipper, so "Ignacio" excaped on the DC-6...)

Yep, not AA related, but the post reminded me of something I hadn't thought of for many years, and it also got me thinking of how AA / TSA et al would react today. (My permits expired many years ago; don't worry.)