Snakes on Board

Snake on a plane! AirAsia flight to Tawau diverted to Kuching

A silhouette of the snake in the lighted compartment of the plane from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau.


KOTA KINABALU: It’s not quite like the movie Snakes on a Plane but passengers on an AirAsia flight would have been similarly frightened after a snake was seen in the cabin of its aircraft yesterday.

The incident took place on a flight bound for Tawau from Kuala Lumpur. It caused the pilot to make a decision to divert the plane to Kuching instead.

A video showing the silhouette of a snake has been making the rounds on social media since this morning.

In a statement, AirAsia chief safety officer Liong Tien Ling confirmed the incident but said no one was hurt.

Liong said that as soon as the pilot was made aware of the incident, he made the decision to divert the aircraft to Kuching as a precautionary measure to catch the snake and fumigate the aircraft.

“This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time.

“The captain took the appropriate action and the flight will depart for Tawau as soon as possible.

“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.”

It is learned that AirAsia ground staff were still searching for the snake on the plane in Kuching.

An AirAsia spokersman told FMT that the affected passengers took another flight to get to Tawau.

Netizens took to social media to voice their amazement over the whole episode.

Nurhasyimah Balqis was perplexed at how the snake made it into the aircraft in the first place.

Emylia Lien Sundang was just as surprised. “I am reminded of the movie Snakes on a plane,” she said, referring to the Hollywood flick starring Samuel L Jackson as a federal agent stuck with loads of venomous snakes on a flight full of passengers.

“Seriously? So scary,” Siti Nur Fatihah said.

Zawawi Xii, on the other hand,poked fun at the episode. “The airfare from KL to Tawau is expensive, so it instead snuck into the light compartment.”

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kt comments:

AirAsia chief safety officer Liong Tien Ling: “This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time."

Hearing stories from my Uncles, I wouldn't say it's all that rare, though I admit it's not frequent.

One Unc who worked with the British military stationed in RAF Tengah, Singapore, in the 60's narrated a tale of a Javelin fighter pilot discovering in flight he had a cobra in his cockpit, wakakaka.

The snake must have slithered into the open cockpit whilst no one was around and curled up in a corner on the floor of the cockpit - it must have fallen asleep, because the pilot only saw the slithery one remaining still and coiled in a corner after he was airborne. What did he do then?

Ejected?

No, but Unc wasn't very sure whether he was advised after his PAN call to RAF ATC or he had the presence of mind to not disturb Mr Cobra then, landing quickly and undoubtedly scampering out of his cockpit. All's swell as it ended well.

Another case by another military Unc who related the story of a snake-hiker who boarded a Dart Herald transport aircraft en-route from KL to Kuantan - Kuching.

Pilot to ATC: ABC departed 15, climbing to 140, 40 POB plus 1 snake 😁😂😅😆😇

When the aircraft stop at Kuantan in its transit, the passengers bound for Kuching left the aircraft as refuelling-reloading was being carried out. There was a baggage compartment at the rear end of the cabin which when loaded was covered nicely with a tarpaulin.

The movements crew didn't tamper with the rear compartment as it was already fully loaded at KL, the departure point, which was fortunate, because that was where the illegal hitch-hiker slithered out from beneath the tarpaulin cover, continued to the main passenger door and dropped down to the tarmac. That was when the movements crew saw the snake. The ophidian scampered for the nearest green patch which was between the tarmac and the runway. 

The aircraft especially its rear baggage compartment was then checked thoroughly before the flight continued on to Kuching, with rear compartment passengers casting nervous eyes at the baggage compartment.

As for the snake (species not known nor mentioned) the movements crew gave it a loud cheer as it sped on to the shoulder of the runway, escaping any arrest by military police. In the RMAF KL base there were large areas of bushland including a golf course thus it must have been a local at that location, perhaps chasing a rat into said Dart Herald or just seeking a new place to curl up for a doze, or an adventurous snake who wanted to go to Kuching, wakakaka. How it settled down in the new state of Pahang remained a mystery till today, wakakaka again.

The above 'snakes on board' were without human prevention, but there were more incidents where irresponsible owners of such slithery ones boarded planes without declaring their pets but which subsequently escaped while the planes were in flight.

I wonder what happened to the AirAsia snake, and what type it was? And I again wonder how in the world did it slither all the way up into the baggage rack and then remained undetected until its silhouette was spotted (unless it had escaped from a passenger's bag).

I've my own executive jet 😂😂😂

The thing about South East Asia is that snakes abound in the regions, and which don't restrict themselves to the wilderness.

These snakes would slither into anywhere including aeroplanes, helicopters, trucks, boats and especially cars if their windows are left open, and of course houses - I have come across snakes in houses especially in Kedah where I used to work.