Crisis landing with snake on a plane

IT was a moment that would make even tough guy actor Samuel L Jackson shriek in fear.

Passengers on a commercial flight in Mexico received a shock when a serpent slithered into the cabin in a scene straight out of the Jackson-starred Hollywood thriller, Snakes on a Plane.

The 1m green snake appeared suddenly on an Aeromexico flight from Torreon in the country’s north to Mexico City on Sunday, emerging from an overhead luggage compartment.

A cellphone video shot by passenger Indalecio Medina showed it wriggling from the ceiling before partially dropping down into the cabin.

Passengers hastily unbuckled themselves to get clear of the dangling snake before it dropped to the floor, where people trapped it with blankets provided by a flight attendant, Medina said.

“It was a frightening situation, but passengers remained calm because it didn’t get out of that space and nobody became hysterical,” he said.

“Some people got up to see what kind of reptile it was, but nobody got carried away.”

After the pilot radioed ahead, the plane was given priority landing in Mexico City and touched down 10 minutes later.

Passengers exited out the rear, and animal control workers came on board to take the stowaway away. – The Telegraph