I’ve never watched the 2006 movie Snakes on a Plane because snakes give me the creeps, but today Indian air travelers might have been worrying about a real life rerun of the movie plot when it was revealed that a snake had evaded capture on an Air India flight after it had arrived in Delhi from Srinagar.
According to news reports, the snake was found coiled up under a seat and the crew was unable to catch it as it slithered around the plane. It evaded capture by slipping into an air vent, and even after mechanics removed panels inside the fuselage, they could not find it.
An airport spokesman was quoted as saying: “There was a commotion which scared the snake and it went further inside.”
Apparently the snake was never found, and the aircraft was not grounded (“We don’t think it was a cobra”, an Air India spokesman said), so flying around Indian skies today is an Airbus A319 with a snake on board. I only hope it doesn’t find its way into the cockpit and bite the pilot.
In the meantime, I think I will avoid flying on Air India for a while.
According to news reports, the snake was found coiled up under a seat and the crew was unable to catch it as it slithered around the plane. It evaded capture by slipping into an air vent, and even after mechanics removed panels inside the fuselage, they could not find it.
An airport spokesman was quoted as saying: “There was a commotion which scared the snake and it went further inside.”
Apparently the snake was never found, and the aircraft was not grounded (“We don’t think it was a cobra”, an Air India spokesman said), so flying around Indian skies today is an Airbus A319 with a snake on board. I only hope it doesn’t find its way into the cockpit and bite the pilot.
In the meantime, I think I will avoid flying on Air India for a while.