Snake on plane causes flight to be cancelled in first of its kind incident

A snake managed to sneak aboard a plane in Japan leaving officials baffled as to where it came from.

The creature’s unexpected appearance resulted in a flight being cancelled and a 24-hour hunt by a wildlife control expert.

Measuring 40cm long, the non-venomous reptile was discovered on a Japan Air Commuter plane while the crew were preparing for departure.

According to Kyodo News, a mechanic at Fukuoka airport found the snake under the aircraft carpet at around 1pm on Monday.

The flight was due to take off for the Kagoshima prefecture around that time, having landed from the Izumo airport earlier that day.

It’s unclear exactly how the snake got into the cabin, with no similar incident having happened before.

‘As far as we can determine, there has never been a case of a snake getting into the cabin,’ Japan Airlines said in a statement. ‘We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to passengers.’

It was determined that the snake was likely from the wild but completely harmless.

In 2019, a man accidentally carried a snake on board on a flight from Florida after it slithered into his rucksack.

When he arrived at his rental property in Pukalani, Maui, the 20-year-old realised he’d brought a guest in the form of a 30 cm-long black racer snake.

AirAsia has had an instance of a snake in the cabin before, with a flight rerouted in 2022 after the pale yellow reptile was spotted along the lighting panel.

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