# Snake on a plane! (Life imitates art) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 3, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-on-a-plane-life-imitates-art/359236 "2006-06-03T02:20:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KeithT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KeithT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithT)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-on-a-plane-life-imitates-art/359236/1 "2006-06-03T02:20:31Z")
The naysayers would think that _Snakes on an Plane_ is a ridiculous premise. They would be [wrong](http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2006060122). > [@](#): > > “I was about 10 miles out of Gallipolis, 3,000 feet off the ground, and I’d just finished scanning the instruments,” he said. “I looked up and saw the snake’s head sticking out of a hole in the instrument panel.” Even if his approach was more Steve Irwin than Samuel L. > [@](#): > > “[My friends] told me I should fly with snakes more often, because that was the smoothest landing they’d ever seen me make… That snake resides in Ohio now,” he said. “I wasn’t about to bring it home. I don’t mind snakes, but I sure like to know where they are.” ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-on-a-plane-life-imitates-art/359236/2 "2006-06-03T02:43:05Z")
Let’s hope the same thing doesn’t happen to the poor guy in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=374005) who is going for his first flight… ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-on-a-plane-life-imitates-art/359236/3 "2006-06-03T12:11:59Z")
I think we have a prequel lined up here. Snake on a Plane! Based on a True Story. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-on-a-plane-life-imitates-art/359236/4 "2022-02-15T17:38:48Z")
The only thing worse that cotton pickin’ snakes on a plane is _zombie_ snakes on a plane. But this is a new story > [@](#): > > An AirAsia flight in Malaysia was re-routed after a snake was found on the plane, the airline has confirmed. > > The domestic flight was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau on February 10 when several passengers reportedly realized there was a snake on board the aircraft. A social media user shared an image of a snake slithering through the plane’s light fixtures. > > “This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time,” said Captain Liong Tien Ling, AirAsia’s chief safety officer, in a statement emailed to CNN Travel. > > Once the pilot got word of the unexpected extra passenger, the plane was re-routed to the city of Kuching. > > There, the plane was fumigated and, presumably, the snake stowaway was removed. > > “The Captain took the appropriate action and the flight safely departed for Tawau as soon as possible,” said Ling in the statement. > > … > > Incidents of snakes on board airplanes are indeed rare but do happen. > > In 2012, a passenger – who happened to be the owner of a reptile shop – smuggled a cobra in his carry-on luggage on an Egyptair flight and was found out [when the snake got loose](https://www.cnn.com/2012/12/04/travel/snake-on-a-plane/index.html) and bit his hand. > > Snakes also wind up on planes unintentionally. > > That is what happened to a Scottish woman who was returning from a vacation in Australia in 2016 when she discovered mid-air that a stowaway python had [taken up residence in her shoe](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/python-australia-scotland-flight-scli-intl/index.html). > > Upon the plane’s arrival in Glasgow, the local chapter of the Society for the Protection of Animals (SPCA) retrieved the snake and put it into quarantine. > > Luckily, the reptile was identified as a spotted python, which is not venomous. [https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/airasia-malaysia-snake-plane-rerouted-intl-hnk/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/airasia-malaysia-snake-plane-rerouted-intl-hnk/index.html)