An aeroplane of TAP Air Portugal had to be grounded for four days after 132 hamsters broke free inside the cargo hold and caused havoc as they kept avoiding being captured again by the airport staff.

The escapees were aboard a flight from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel Island on Wednesday, November 13, according to The Independent.

The hamsters were being brought to the island to be delivered to a pet store along with ferrets and caged birds, the Portuguese daily newspaper Correio da Manha learnt from airline sources.

Interestingly, the airport staff found out about the hamsters escaping when they started to unload the transport boxes from the plane and soon realized that the ones containing the hamsters were damaged and empty.

The plane had to be grounded for safety measures while the staff continued to search and recapture all of the 132 hamsters.

It took several days for the airport staff to catch all the hamsters wreaking havoc in the cargo hold with the last 16 captured on Sunday.

Once all the hamsters were captured, the plane made its way back to Lisbon with no passengers on board.

The aircraft will now reportedly go under extensive in-depth checks to ensure that the plane was not damaged by the hamsters during their little escapade.