Melbourne, Australia (AP) – An Australian domestic flight was delayed for two hours after a stoveway snake Officials said on Wednesday that the aircraft’s cargo was found in the hold.
According to snake catcher Mark Pelé, the snake was found on Tuesday as a passenger at the passenger Virgin Australia Flight VA337 at the Melbourne Airport tied to Brisbane.
The snake turned out to be a harmless 60-saint (2-foot) green tree snake. But Peli said that he thought it could be toxic when he reached it in a dark grip.
“It was not until I caught the snake that I realized that it was not toxic. Till that point, it looked very dangerous for me,” said Pelli.
Most of the world’s most toxic Snakes are native to Australia,
When Pelé entered the cargo hold, the snake was half hidden behind a panel and could disappear deeply into the aircraft.
Pelé said that he told an aircraft engineer and airline staff that if the snake disappears inside the aircraft, they would have to vacate the aircraft.
“I told him if I don’t get it in a shot, then it is going through the panels and you are going to empty the aircraft because at that level I did not know what kind of snake it was,” Pelly said.
“But thankfully, I received it on the first attempt and caught it,” said Pelli. “If I didn’t find this for the first time, then the engineer and I must be pulling a (Boeing) 737 separately, which is still looking for a snake.”
Pelé said that he was taken 30 minutes to drive at the airport and then the security was delayed before reaching the airlineer.
An airline officer said the flight delayed two hours.
Because the snake is a native to the Brisbane region, Pelli suspects that it rode inside a passenger’s belongings and survived during a two -hour flight from Brisbane to Melbourne.
For quarantine reasons, the snake cannot be returned to the wild.
The snake, which is a protected species, is given a melbourne veterinarian to find a house with a licensed snake keeper.
Rod McGirk, Associated Press
