A real-live snake was spotted on a plane this week, on a Qantas flight headed from Cairns, Australia to Port Moresby. But it wasn’t just any snake: It was python nearly 10 feet in length, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

The creature was spotted mid-flight in a well under one of the plane’s wings, its tail furiously flapping in the wind as it sheltered from the cold.

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Airport officials said it survived the flight, but just barely.

In a stroke of bizarre coincidence, the incident occurred just days after the director of the 2006 Samuel L. Jackson film “Snakes on a Plane” passed away.

The body of 60-year-old David Ellis was discovered Monday in a hotel room in Johannesburg, South Africa. The cause of death was unknown.

This video is from The Sydney Morning Herald, published Thursday, January 10, 2013.