11 Horrifying Times Animals Made Their Way Onto Airplanes

The last thing that you want to encounter on your flight is some creepy, crawly, potentially dangerous animal. No, we’re not talking about your seat neighbor who can’t stick to his side of the armrest. We’re talking something right out ofSnakes on a Plane: Pythons, scorpions and tarantulas.

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And though encountering one of these creatures seems as unlikely as winding up acting opposite Samuel L. Jackson in a campy movie about deadly snakes who infiltrate aircrafts, the problem is much more common than you think. So now, while you’re worried about whether or not your baggage will be over the limit or how much leg room you’ll have, you can also wonder if there’s a scorpion in your overhead compartment. How fun!

In February 2019, ahuge scorpion was spottedcrawling out of the overhead bins on a Lion Air flight just as it landed in Indonesia. The creature then scurried away before it could be caught. In astatement toThe Daily Mail, a spokesperson for the airline said, “Ground service officers and technicians immediately carried out an in-depth search and thorough handling of the aircraft after the passengers and cargo were removed, but no animals were found.”

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But scorpions aren’t the only multi-legged creepy-crawlies that have startled passengers mid-flight. In Sept. 2015, a baboon tarantula escaped from its container (in the cargo hold) on a Delta Air Lines flight, grounding the plane and putting its passengers on another flight. A spokesman for the airline told theBaltimore Sun, that the spider never entered the cabin of the plane.

In April 2016, another critter made its way onto a plane from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and crawled up the leg of a shocked Catherine Moreau, who says she ended up with scratches from the spider, which was one of two on the flight.According to CBC News, passengers panicked and stood on their seats after learning of their tarantula travel buddies. The first tarantula was immediately caught, while the second roamed the plane for a bit before being captured.

And then there are snakes, which Samuel L. Jackson did his best to warn us about.

There are a few cases of snakes actually making it to their destinations before revealing themselves on the plane. In February 2019, a woman flew from Australia to Glasgow with apython stowed away in her shoe.She had been on the flight for so long that the snake even began to shed its skin. She was startled when she came upon the snake while unpacking and immediately called the appropriate authorities.

In Dec. 2012, a Jordanian mansmuggled a snake onto an airplanefrom Cairo to Kuwait, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing in the Egyptian resort town of Al Ghardaqa. The passenger, 48, owned a reptile shop in Kuwait, and was attempting to transport an Egyptian cobra in his carry-on bag. The snake bit his hand while the man was attempting to control it, then began to slither under seats. The flight resumed after the snake was confiscated, according toCNN.

In June 2019, a snakehopped a ride in a man’s bagas he traveled all the way from Florida to Hawaii. The snake, which was a non-venomous southern black racer snake, revealed itself when the man arrived in Maui. It measured about a foot long and 1/4-in. in diameter. The snake made itself known when it slithered out of the bag while the man was unpacking, and was reported to authorities, as snakes are illegal in Hawaii.

We don’t know about you, but:

source: people.com