May 4 (UPI) -- A Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland, Calif., to San Diego was delayed for more than an hour due to the presence of an unusual passenger -- a robot.
Eily Ben-Abraham of Elite Event Robotics confirmed he and the 4-foot-tall, 70-pound robot, named Bebop, boarded the plane at Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport on Thursday to attend an event in San Diego.
Southwest Airlines spokesperson Lynn Lunsford confirmed Ben-Abraham had purchased a ticket for Bebop, but the initial delay was caused by the robot's presence in an aisle seat being a violation of the airline's policy for large carry-on items.
Bebop was moved to a window seat, but airline staff soon noted a second issue.
"Then they come and start asking, what kind of batteries does it have? What's going on with this? X, Y and Z. They want to see it," Ben-Abraham told KGO-TV.
