Airline crew received a frightening surprise when a mysterious slithery passenger boarded a flight from Mexico to the UK. The plane was left out of action while crew and animal experts attempted to find the snake, which has still not been found four days later.
Snake Escapes on Packed Flight
A snake escaped on a packed UK-bound plane, and the reptile has still not been found four days later. It crawled around the cabin of a night-time Tui flight from Mexico, echoing the 2006 movie Snakes On A Plane, The Sun reports.
A user posted a picture of the snake to a Facebook group, saying it was found on a long haul airliner. Incredibly, none of the 345 passengers on board noticed the slithering stowaway, thought to be a mildly venomous mock viper. It was found by a horrified cleaner shortly after landing at Gatwick in London on Friday.
Airport Worker Captures Photo
An airport worker got a snap of the reddish-brown snake, thought to have been smuggled on at Cancun, before it disappeared. The reptile was found on a Tui airline flight from Mexico to Heathrow Airport in the UK. Engineers and animal experts have tried in vain to find it on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which had to be taken out of service.
On Monday, the plane was still grounded. It beggars belief that a passenger brought the mock viper on board, a source told The Sun. It is not known what damage the snake could do to the mechanics of the plane. Over 300 passengers were on the flight to Heathrow; none were injured.
Cleaner's Heart Attack
The sight of the snake almost gave the airline cleaners a heart attack. But by the time they had raised the alarm, the animal had disappeared. There was no way the airliner could be allowed to take off again. The scenario was reminiscent of the famous film Snakes On A Plane starring Samuel L. Jackson.
If passengers had seen the snake at 30,000ft, there would have been blind panic and pandemonium on board. Sources at Tui said locating the snake is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and it was adhering to International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines.
More Coverage
In other news, a plane crashed on the way to pick up a star player, and an entire flight was diverted due to a fitness watch. The airline was contacted for comment. In Snakes On A Plane, Samuel L. Jackson is an FBI agent confronted by deadly serpents deliberately released on a flight to LA.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
