As someone with an irrational fear of snakes, this is my personal nightmare…
In this post:
Snake slithers around Thai AirAsia jet cabin
This incident happened on Saturday, January 13, 2024, and involves Thai AirAsia flight FD3015, operating from Bangkok Don Mueang (DMK) to Phuket (HKT). The short 66-minute flight was flown by a 13-year-old Airbus A320 with the registration code HS-ABQ.
At some point toward the end of the flight, it was discovered that there was a small snake in the cabin. Once the plane landed in Phuket, passengers were asked to remain seated, while the “unticketed” traveler was dealt with.
In a video posted online (which has been viewed over four million times on TikTok), you can see how the crew handled this situation.
The snake can be seen near the overhead lighting panel, above the overhead bin. A flight attendant then tried to get the snake to slither into a water bottle, with no luck. He then brought over a large trash bag, and used the bottle to push the snake in there. That worked. I’m very impressed by how calmly this was all handled.
Had I been on that plane seated near this situation, the viral video would’ve been my reaction to the situation, rather than the snake as such. 😉
This isn’t the first “snakes on a plane” incident
Of course when an incident like this occurs, Samuel L. Jackson’s 2006 “Snakes on a Plane” movie probably comes to mind. The reality is that it’s pretty rare for snakes to be discovered on planes, though it does happen.
For example, in February 2022, a snake was discovered in the lighting panel on an AirAsia Airbus A320 flying from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Tawau (TWU). The plane ended up diverting to offload the non-ticketed creature. I guess a silver lining here was that the snake was behind a panel.
Meanwhile in November 2016, a snake was discovered in the overhead console on an Aeromexico Embraer E190 flying from Torreón (TRC) to Mexico City (MEX). The plane continued its flight, was captured by passengers, and was removed upon landing.
Back in 2013, a 10-foot python hitched a ride on the wing of a Qantas turboprop flying from Cairns (CNS) to Port Moresby (POM). While the snake managed to stay on the wing for the entire flight, it was found dead upon arrival.
Bottom line
A snake was discovered in the cabin of a Thai AirAsia jet operating a domestic flight from Bangkok to Phuket. While this would have scared the heck out of me, the flight attendant handled the situation with grace, and managed to get the snake to slither into a trash bag.
What do you make of this AirAsia snake incident?
Since it is Thai AirAsia you would think the snake would be treated as a delicacy :-)
Glad they captured the Boomslang.
Moral of the story - do not fly AirAsia when traveling within SE Asia
Many airports are near wooded and/or ponds/lakes. Kind of surprised this doesn't happen more often (or maybe it does but the freeloader isn't discovered).
Old news. They already made a documentary film about this case in 2006.
My wife's worst nightmare!