Snake on a Plane! Pilot forced to make emergency landing in Australia after spotting reptile



Pilot Braden Blennerhassett, who discovered a snake on his light plane in Darwin, Australia

If ever a pilot needed nerves of steel it was the moment when a snake poked its head out from a gap in the instrument panel.



It happened to Braden Blennerhassett 20 minutes after he took off from Darwin airport in his twin-engined plane - and he admits it's not an experience he wants to go through again.



Braden tried to remain calm as he decided to call the control tower back in Darwin and tell them that he would be making a swift return.



But there was an added problem - the snake had slithered out of a gap near the radio's control button and engaging in a conversation with the control tower could have resulted in the snake sinking its fangs into Braden's hand.



Even so, he managed to hold a sporadic conversation with Darwin, although his initial call was treated as a joke.



After successfully landing without managing to get bitten, Mr Braden recalled that 'out of the corner of my eye, I see a little bit of movement there.'



He told the Northern Territory News today: 'Lo and behind, in between the instrument panel and the dashboard a stowaway came on board and it took me a while to register that it was actually a snake.

'I turned the plane around and got it headed back towards Darwin.



'I said "Look, you're not going to believe this. I've got snakes on a plane."'

Scroll down for video

A Golden Tree snake: Similar to the one discovered hiding in the control panel on the light plane

It was, of course, only the one reptile, but Braden's comment, reminiscent of the terrifying Hollywood movie Snakes on a Plane, resulted in the control tower and his freight company's staff treating his call with some skepticism.

But when he asked for a snake handler to be brought in to the airfield his alarm was taken seriously.



Mr Geoffrey Hunt, director of the freight company Air Frontier said: 'I've heard of crocodiles being loose in planes but not snakes,' he said, in a reference to small reptiles that have broken out of their containers.



'Braden had a bit of a problem communicating with the control tower because the snake popped its head out near the transmit button that he needed to press to talk to the tower.'

Emergency Landing: Braden had to turn his light aircraft around, similar to the one pictured, just 20 minutes after take off. Stock image

As soon as the light aircraft, which was not carrying any passengers, touched down, Braden made a hasty escape from the cockpit while a snake handler climbed in.



Then came a new concern - the snake couldn't be found.



That meant the aircraft could not be used until the reptile was caught.



Mr Hunt said the plan was to try to trap the snake using a live mouse in a cage as bait.



'You put it into a box with a hole in it and the snake goes into the box to get the mouse and it stays in there trying to get it,' he said.

The reptile - a Golden Tree snake, also known as a 'flying snake' - was eventually recovered. While Golden Tree snakes are mildly venomous it is not toxic to humans.

