Snake on a plane causes panic on US flight, Samuel L Jackson nowhere to be seen
A snake has caused panic in the business class section of a recent US flight.
Local TV outlet News 12 New Jersey said some passengers were left "shrieking" when the stowaway made its appearance as United Airlines Flight 2038 was taxiing at Newark Liberty International Airport.
It turned out to be a harmless garter snake that seems to have slithered on board while the plane was on the tarmac earlier in Tampa, Florida.
Some passengers were left 'shrieking' by the snake on the plane. Getty Images/iStockphoto
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed it had removed the snake and released it into the wild.
Unlike the cult Samuel L Jackson movie Snakes on a Plane, incidents of slithering reptiles on flights are rare.
Earlier this year, a pilot in Malaysia was forced to make a diversion after a snake was spotted crawling inside the lighting panel above passengers on an AirAsia flight.
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This isn't the first time a plane has joined passengers on a flight. Getty
In 2017, Dubai-based airline Emirates had to cancel a flight from Muscat, Oman, to Dubai after a snake was spotted slithering in the cargo hold.
Just a couple of months earlier, a snake appeared from an overhead luggage compartment on an Aeromexico flight over Mexico.
Other unwanted appearances from creatures include a bat in business class on an Air India last year which forced the pilot to turn the flight around.
Other animals on planes include bats, rats and crickets. Getty
In 2019, a Spirit flight in the US got an unexpected visit from a flying mammal. Videos posted to social media showed passengers screaming and laughing as the bat flew up and down the cabin.
Other wildlife without boarding passes over the years include rats and wētā (large flightless crickets).
This article was originally published on Stuff NZ and has been republished here with full permission.
