Snake Forces Pilot To Make Emergency Landing, See The Video

In the latest viral story regarding reptiles, a snake was found slithering aboard a flight in Malaysia, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

By Erika Hanson | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

snake

Three things in life are certain. Death, taxes, and snakes on a mother fu***** plane. While Samuel L Jackson’s outlandish 2006 film, Snakes on a Plane, may have seemed like the most bizarre plot for a movie, the past decade or so has taught us not to underestimate the dynamism of real-life snakes in the sky. In the latest viral story regarding the slithery reptiles, a snake was found slithering aboard a flight in Malaysia, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

See the snake slithering in the plane below.

The news first went viral on TikTok after a passenger shared a video showcasing the serpent. The video was filmed on a passenger’s phone, as he panned the camera up at the cabin’s lights to reveal the scaly reptile’s shadow coming from inside the light fixture. Unlike the frenzied passenger reactions seen in Snakes on a Plane, the cameraman seemed fairly calm for being trapped on a jet with what possibly could have been a deadly snake. 

The unticketed passenger in question was hitching a ride on an AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau. After the crew discovered the snake, the plane was forced to make an emergency landing at the Kuching Airport in Maylasia. To confirm the incident, the airline’s chief security officer, Liong Tien Ling, spoke about the occurrence in a statement to CNN. According to Ling, the captains “appropriate action” kept passengers and crew members safe, while he iterated that no one on board the flight was ever “at any risk” and no injuries were reported-other than the mental anguish surely felt by the snake for being stuck on a plane without any kind of exit.  

While it’s unclear what type of snake it was, or how exactly it got inside the plane, Ling said it can happen on any plane. Luckily with these types of stories toppling headlines in the past few decades, most of the population now understand just how common snakes on a plane really can be. And thanks to the miracle of the internet, a google search of “snakes on a plane” reveals a plethora of news stories documenting the bizarre phenomenon. And according to scientists, snakes on a plane are not only perfectly normal but also fairly common

Us Geological Survey invasive species scientist Robert Reed says that snakes can survive for up to two hours while externally hanging on to a commercial airliner. Even though extremely cold temperatures and vicious winds would thwart most animals, the pesky serpents endure. And much like Craig Robinson’s government gig catching snakes in the upcoming sitcom, Killing It, real like snake catchers are tasked with ensuring no snakes get on planes.

For example, Reed, along with USDA Wildlife Services spends millions of dollars each year in Guan to make sure no snakes hitch a ride. While no one wants to find a snake on their flight, the reasoning is actually scientific. If a particular snake species ends up in a new habitat, the ecosystem could drastically be altered. So while we don’t feel the need to call Samuel L Jackson for this particular incident, the story serves as a good reminder to watch out for those mother fu***** snakes on your next flight. 

Subscribe for Science News
Get More Real But Weird

Science News

Expect a confirmation email if you Subscribe.