Panic as Snake Suddenly Appears on Plane, Photo, Video Go Viral

• On Tuesday, July 1, a Virgin Australia flight VA337 at Melbourne Airport was delayed for over an hour after a snake was found in the forward cargo compartment
• The reptile likely stowed away in a passenger’s suitcase from Queensland, a state in northeastern Australia
• Australia is home to approximately 170 species of land snakes, with around 100 being venomous

Melbourne, Australia - A flight in Australia was delayed for around two hours after a snake was found inside the aircraft’s cargo hold.

As reported by The Standard UK, the snake was discovered on Tuesday, July 1, as passengers were boarding Virgin Australia Flight VA337 from Melbourne to Brisbane.

Al Jazeera also noted the incident.

The cabin crew on the Virgin Australia flight quickly shut the cargo door, locking the reptile inside before calling for professional help.

Snake catcher Mark Pelley, famously known as The Snake Hunter, was urgently called to the scene.

Pelley said:

"It wasn't until after I caught the snake that I realised that it wasn't venomous. Until that point, it looked very dangerous to me."

He added:

"If I didn't get it that first time, the engineers and I would be pulling apart a (Boeing) 737 looking for a snake."

The clip of Pelley capturing the snake has since gone viral.

The videos can be watched below:

Because the snake is native to the Brisbane region, Pelley suspects it came aboard inside a passenger's luggage.

Snake on Australian plane: Netizens react

Meanwhile, the unusual incident left social media users both stunned and amused.

Legit.ng captured some comments on Facebook below:

B.becky Entertainment commented:

"How did the snake get in there?"

RJ NM wrote:

"My god."

Eriberto Panerio said:

"Stow away snake…would like to explore the world."

History of snakes on planes

Snakes have made cameos on Australian jetliners before. In 2013, stunned Qantas Airways passengers watched out their windows as a large python clung to a plane's wing during a two-hour flight from Australia's northeastern city of Cairns to Papua New Guinea.

The reptiles have been spotted on passenger jets in other countries. In 2022, a snake was discovered on board a United Airlines passenger flight from Tampa Bay, Florida, to Newark, New Jersey. The non-venomous snake was removed from the plane by airport staff after the flight landed in Newark.

Read more aviation-related news:

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• Eyewitnesses narrate how Air India plane carrying 242 people crashed into college canteen

Evan Okoro shares how snake visited mum

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Nollywood actress Evan Okoro got the attention of netizens after she revealed how she and her mother escaped being beaten by a snake in their home.

The actress shared a video of the long snake which was still bleeding, noting that its head was very long.

She said the venomous reptile would have beaten her mother if they had not spotted and killed it on time.

Source: Legit.ng