A snake slithering aboard a flight in Malaysia forced a pilot to make an emergency landing, airline officials said.
The uninvited reptile was spotted inside an overhead light fixture on an AirAsia flight Thursday from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to Tawau, according to a video shared on TikTok.
@edal8808 Kelihatan seekor ular dalam pesawat dlm penerbangan dari KL ke Tawau. Pesawat terpaksa emergency landing di AirPort Kuching #fyp
“Seen a snake on a plane on a flight from KL to Tawau,” according to a translation of the caption. “The plane was forced to make an emergency landing at the Kuching Airport.”
The airline’s chief security officer confirmed the startling incident in a statement to CNN Türk.
“As soon as the captain was notified, the plane was diverted to Kuching to be disinfected,” AirAsia’s Liong Tien Ling said.
The captain’s “appropriate action” kept passengers and crew members safe, Ling said. No one aboard the flight was ever “at any risk” and no injuries were reported, according to the report.
The travelers were later diverted to Tawau, CNN Türk reported.
The creepy viral footage — complete with music fit for a horror flick — shows an unidentified snake crawling inside an overhead light fixture. It’s unclear how the reptile managed to get inside, but Ling said it can happen on any plane, Channel NewsAsia reported.
“This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time,” Ling told the outlet Friday. “The captain took the appropriate action. At no time was the safety of guests or crew at any risk.”
Snakes on planes are indeed not new ground in aviation, as a horrified female traveler found a python in her shoe during a 9,000-mile flight from Australia to Scotland in 2019.
More recently, a freaked-out pilot also spotted a huge huntsman spider crawling on the ceiling of a private flight in Australia last June, prompting shrieks and cackles in the small cabin, video shows.
Source: NYPOST
