A moving object appeared beneath the cockpit floor as a Kagoshima-bound passenger jet was preparing to depart from Japan's Fukuoka Airport on the 19th. A search of the cabin failed to locate it, and the flight was eventually canceled. A day later, a mechanic lifted the cabin carpet and found a snake about 40 centimeters long.
A snake discovered aboard a domestic aircraft operated by Japan Air Commuter, a low-cost carrier affiliated with Japan Airlines, disrupted operations, Kyodo News and the Nishinippon Shimbun reported on the 21st.
The aircraft was operating JAC flight JAL3653. It had arrived at Fukuoka Airport from Izumo Airport in Shimane Prefecture and was preparing for the leg to Kagoshima. The pilot spotted something moving beneath the cockpit floor at about 12:45 p.m. on the 19th but quickly lost sight of it. Airline staff searched the cabin but had not found it by 8 p.m. that day. Weighing the impact on passenger safety and normal operations, the airline decided to cancel the flight.
The snake was found the next day under the carpet at the rear of the cabin. It emerged when a mechanic lifted the carpet, and the airline brought in a pest-removal specialist to capture it.
The snake was a juvenile measuring about 40 centimeters, identified as a Japanese striped snake, a species that grows to between 80 and 200 centimeters as an adult. It is not venomous. How the snake got inside the aircraft remains unknown. The airline suspects it may have entered from the wild.
JAC said it had no record of a snake entering one of its cabins before, and apologized for the inconvenience to passengers.
Crabs Crawling to the Seats, and Snakes, a Horse and a Bear on Cargo Flights
This is not the first time an animal aboard an aircraft has disrupted a flight. In the United States in 2014, small crabs escaped from a container loaded in a passenger jet's cargo hold. The crabs made their way to the passenger cabin, delaying the flight.
In Australia in 2012, a cargo pilot encountered a snake emerging from behind the instrument panel in mid-flight. The snake crawled across the pilot's legs as the aircraft turned back, according to accounts of the incident. The flight ended without serious consequences.
Larger animals have also caused problems on board. In 2023, a horse escaped its stall on a Boeing freighter flying from New York to Belgium. The same year, a bear got out of its cage in the cargo hold of a passenger jet traveling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Baghdad.