A snake was found in the cargo hold of a plane at Dubai International Airport, causing significant disruption and delays.
Fire services were immediately alerted to the incident, the hitchhiker was removed, and the entire aircraft was fumigated, ANI News reported. The snake species hasn't yet been revealed.
The Air India Express aircraft had flown in from Calicut International Airport in Kerala, India, which is one of the busiest airports in the country.
The Kerala State Council for Science has said previously that Kerala has a major problem with snakes and snakebites. Between 2016 and 2021, roughly 450 people died in the state due to snakebites, Kerala's forest minister has said. About 3,000 people are treated for snakebites every year.
There are five common species of venomous snakes in the region: the Indian Cobra, King Cobra, Russell's Viper, Saw-scaled viper and the krait.
This isn't the first time a reptilian hitchhiker has made its way onto a passenger aircraft.
In October, a garter snake was found slithering around in the aisle of a plane at Newark International Airport. While these snakes are harmless, the creature caused quite a stir among the passengers onboard the flight, who would have had no idea how dangerous it was.
In February, a domestic AirAsia flight in Malaysia was forced to make an emergency landing after a snake was spotted in an overhead compartment. Other animal stowaways have also been reported, including a live tarantula and a bird that got stuck in an airplane cabin on an eight hour flight from Belgium to the U.S.
When dangerous animals are spotted on aircraft, the entire plane is usually fumigated to ensure there aren't any other stowaways living there. However, this process takes time and can cause significant delays to services.
Passengers at Dubai airport were delayed for hours and many of them took to social media to complain about the disruption. "Snake in cargo, so we're stuck in Dubai for 7 hours now," said one user.
Snake in cargo,so we’re stuck in Dubai for 7hours now 😑@FlyWithIX IX344,Please give us some estimate time at least pic.twitter.com/GtjP8dO2iX
— Sharath (@sharathkrml) December 10, 2022
Another user said that their mother had been stranded at the airport for two whole days.
Air India is the worst airlines in the entire world!Irresponsible staff, indifferent attitude & absolutely no regard for passengers safety or well being. My mother & her co-passengers were stranded for 2 whole days in DXB airport due to a snake found in the cargo of @FlyWithIX
— A.Ashish (@AAshish41843151) December 11, 2022
The Boeing 737 was eventually cleared to fly, and no one was hurt in the incident. All of the passengers were able to safely disembark from the aircraft and the aviation regulator has ordered a probe into the incident.
Newsweek has reached out to Air India Express for comment.
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About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more
