A pilot in the Northern Territory has been forced to turn his plane around after a snake slithered from his dashboard.

Braden Blennerhassett with Air Frontier was flying freight to the remote town of Peppimenarti in the Northern Territory when he spotted the snake coming out of his dashboard.

Life imitates art: A scene from much-derided film Snakes on a Plane.

Air Frontier director Geoffrey Hunt said Mr Blennerhassett called air traffic controllers on Tuesday to alert them to the snake.

"He said, 'We've got a snake on board,'" Mr Hunt said.