Passengers on an AirAsia flight in Thailand experienced a skin-crawling moment when they spotted a snake in an overhead luggage cabin.
The incident happened on Jan. 13 on AirAsia's Flight FD3015, which was travelling from Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport to Phuket. As soon as passengers on board the Airbus A320 plane discovered the snake slithering over the overhead bin, chaos erupted in the flight.
A TikTok video of the incident, shared by a user with the handle @wannabnailssalon, showed some passengers moving away from the seats that were closer to the snake. Some people instantly took out their phones to record the tiny reptile, according to media reports.
My worst fear: pic.twitter.com/MJPfMeSclk
— Mothership (@MothershipSG) January 16, 2024
One of AirAsia's cabin crew members reportedly tried to capture the snake inside an empty disposable plastic water bottle. The snake was later brushed into a garbage bag using a plastic bottle.
The snake was found as the flight was preparing to land at the Phuket airport. AirAsia was able to immediately explain how the snake ended up inside the plane. Once the plane landed, relevant engineering and safety teams were already alert on the ground. They reportedly inspected the aircraft thoroughly and no other snakes were found.
This is the second reported snake-related incident onboard an AirAsia plane. In February 2022, a spotted python was found onboard one of AirAsia's domestic flights in Malaysia that was travelling from the capital Kuala Lumpur to Sabah. The plane was forced to reroute to Kuching International Airport in the Malaysian state of Sarawak in the wake of the incident.
Videos and photos of the 2022 incident went viral across social media platforms as it showed the reptile slithering through the plane's light fixtures. "This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time," the low-cost airline said in a statement at the time.
In regards to the latest snake incident, Phol Poompuang, head of corporate safety of AirAsia Thailand, stated that snake spotting on a flight was still "a very rare incident".
"Flight attendants were notified before landing in Phuket after a passenger noticed a small snake in the overhead luggage compartment. AirAsia crew were well trained to handle an occurrence of this nature and relocated passengers from the area as a precautionary measure," AirAsia said in a statement.
"As per standard procedure for an incident of this nature, the aircraft underwent a deep clean and fumigation before resuming operations. The safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew is always our top priority and at no time was the safety of guests or crew at any risk," added Poompuang.
