A pilot on a cargo run was forced to turn back to his north Australian base after finding a snake loose in his light plane.
In a scene reminiscent of the 2006 movie Snakes on a Plane, pilot Braden Blennerhassett saw the snake’s head pop out from under the dashboard of his twin-engine Beechcraft Baron G58 shortly after takeoff from Darwin airport.
Air Frontier director Geoff Hunt said today that his employee was a “cool character” who told air traffic control: “I’m going to have to return to Darwin. I’ve got a snake on board the plane.”
The reptile quickly slithered away. A snake handler was later unable to find the snake, which might have escaped after the plane landed. The snake’s species is not known.
According to reports, the pilot later told Nine Network television he was "shaken" and that his heart rate and blood pressure were "a bit elevated."
"You're trying to be as still as you possibly can and when you've got your hands on the power levers," he told ABC. "You're kind of worried about the snake taking that as a threat and biting you."
"As the plane was landing, the snake was crawling down my leg, which was frightening," he told the station.
AP