Snake in cockpit forces landing

An Australian pilot was given the fright of his life when a snake slithered from the dashboard of the plane he was flying, forcing him to make an emergency landing, airline officials said Thursday.

Braden Blennerhassett was on a freight run for Air Frontier from Darwin to the remote town of Peppimenarti in the Northern Territory on Tuesday when the reptile appeared in the cockpit. He made a mayday call and landed safely back in Darwin.

“As the plane was landing the snake was crawling down my leg, which was frightening.”

Blennerhassett managed to get his plane back to base where a snake handler was waiting for him.

“We have got another chap here who is an aircraft engineer and a snake handler and he had a look and he couldn’t find it,” Air Frontier director Geoffrey Hunt said, adding that they now planned to use a live mouse in a cage as bait.

Until the snake is found, the aircraft will be grounded.