Snake on plane causes terror and forces emergency landing

A plane was forced to make an emergency landing after someone noticed a snake aboard the flight.

The snake was spotted inside an overhead light on an AirAsia flight on Feb. 10. The flight was going from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to Tawau. It’s not immediately clear who saw the snake first, but the pilots were notified immediately, and the captain made the decision to make an emergency landing in Kuching to disinfect the plane and remove the snake.

One of the passengers, who goes by E-dal Tay (@edal8808), posted a video of the snake on TikTok following the incident. The terrifying clip has almost 3 million views and comments from users all over the world.

“Snakes on a plane is real,” one commenter wrote, referencing the 2006 movie.

“New fear unlocked,” another said.

“The real nightmare,” someone agreed.

“AirAsia is aware of the incident that occurred on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau on Thursday,” AirAsia’s chief security officer, Liong Tien Ling, told CNN’s Turkish outlet. “As soon as the captain was notified, the plane was diverted to Kuching to be disinfected.”

Ling also added that the pilot took “appropriate action” by prioritizing the safety of passengers and crew and mentioned that, while he didn’t know how the snake got on the plane, it’s not entirely implausible.

“This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time,” Ling told Channel NewsAsia. “The captain took the appropriate action. At no time was the safety of guests or crew at any risk.”