United Airlines has hit the headlines once again this week after a scorpion fell from an overhead locker on one of its flights and stung a Canadian passenger.

Richard Bell was flying with his wife Linda from Houston to Calgary on Sunday after a holiday in Mexico when the inch and a half honey-coloured creature landed on his head.

"I grabbed it, hanging on its tail. I think that's what saved me," he told Global News.

A Mexican man sitting next to the couple on the plane pointed it out was a scorpion and that it was dangerous, Mr Bell said.

"I dropped it on my plate, then I went to pick it up again and that's when it stung me."

It “felt like a wasp sting,” he added.