An AirAsia pilot was forced to reroute an airborne plane after one of the passengers found a snake on board slithering behind a lighting fixture.
The AirAsia flight was reportedly on the way to Kuala Lumpur from Tawau on Thursday when the pilot was informed of the unwanted stowaway, CNN reported.
“The captain took the appropriate action and the flight safely departed for Tawau as soon as possible,” Captain Liong Tien Ling, AirAsia’s chief safety officer, said in a statement, explaining even though it was a rare occurrence, these situations “can occur on any aircraft from time to time.”
“The safety and well-being of our guests and crew is always our top priority. At no time was the safety of guests or crew at any risk.”
The flight was immediately rerouted to Kuching, Sarawak. After safely landing in the city, the airline fumigated the plane as a safety precaution, Channel News Asia reported.
The Thursday incident was likened in news stories to the 2006 movie “Snakes on a Plane,” which stars Samuel L. Jackson as an FBI agent tasked to escort a witness from Hawaii to Los Angeles. The Jackson film is where the famous quotable line “I have had it with these motherf*cking snakes on this motherf*cking plane” originated.
