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A 40-centimeter striped snake found aboard a domestic flight operated by Japan Air Commuter, a budget carrier affiliated with Japan Airlines, forced the cancellation of the flight.
According to Kyodo News and the West Japan Newspaper on Wednesday, the snake was discovered inside an ATR42 aircraft at Fukuoka Airport on Monday, where it had been scheduled to depart for Kagoshima.
A pilot preparing for departure first spotted the snake in the cockpit.
The snake immediately fled and could not be located, ultimately prompting the airline to cancel the scheduled flight over safety concerns.
The snake was found again the following day, Tuesday, after a maintenance worker lifted a carpet in the rear of the cabin. A pest control specialist was called in and captured it.
The snake was a juvenile, not yet fully grown. How it got on board has not been determined.
The aircraft had arrived at Fukuoka Airport that morning after departing from Izumo Airport in Shimane Prefecture.
The airline suspects the snake entered the aircraft from the wild. "To the best of our knowledge, there has been no previous case of a snake getting inside one of our aircraft," the carrier said, adding that it apologized to passengers for the inconvenience.
Adult striped snakes can grow to between 80 and 200 centimeters. The species is not venomous.
Snake chaos on a US flight in 2022
In October 2022, a snake was found aboard a United Airlines passenger jet, sending the cabin into chaos.
According to CNN and other outlets at the time, the snake was discovered on a domestic flight from Florida bound for New Jersey.
A garter snake that suddenly appeared caused business-class passengers to scream, while others lifted their feet off the floor to avoid it. A flight attendant rushed over to check on the snake, and the airline immediately contacted airport authorities.
Airport wildlife management staff and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police were waiting at the gate when the plane arrived and moved quickly to catch the snake, which was later released into the wild. No one was bitten, and the incident did not affect flight operations.
The airline did not explain at the time how the snake had boarded the aircraft.
Garter snakes, which typically measure between 46 and 66 centimeters, generally avoid direct contact with humans and tend to bite only when deliberately provoked.
yul@heraldcorp.com
