A snake hitches a ride on a Qantas plane

posted 11 Jan 2013, 02:50 by Mpelembe [ updated 11 Jan 2013, 02:51 ]

A snake hitches a ride on a Qantas plane from Cairns in Australia and is dead on arrival at Port Moresby Papua New Guinea.

PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA (JANUARY 10, 2013) (ROBERT WEBER. OLD PLANTATION.COM.PG) - Passengers on a recent flight from Australia were shocked to look out their cabin windows to find a huge snake on the wing of the plane.

The three metre long (9.1 foot), non-poisonous Amethystine python appeared about an hour into the Qantas flight between Cairns in northern Queensland and Papua New Guinea's Port Moresby on Thursday (January 10).

"Halfway to Papua New Guinea passengers reported seeing a snake clinging to the wing," a Qantas spokesman said of the snake, which is also known as a scrub python and can grow to as long as 8.5 metres (28 ft).

A crew member told local media that when the python's presence was first reported the initial reaction was "you've got to be kidding."

The slithery stowaway was believed to have crawled onto the plane from scrubland or the mangroves that surround Cairns airport.

Qantas said there was no impact on the safe operation of the aircraft due to the snake's presence, and the Bombardier Q400 was cleared to resume flying after it landed in Port Moresby.

The snake, used to tropical Queensland, was found dead on arrival.

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