Watch: Slithering stowaway spotted aboard AirAsia flight in Thailand
Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Passengers on an AirAsia Thailand flight from Bangkok to Phuket captured video of a scene straight out of the movies: a snake on the plane.
A video that went viral on TikTok shows a flight attendant trying to capture a small snake slithering on top of the overhead bin.
The attendant initially tries to get the snake to slither into a plastic bottle, but ends up using the bottle to nudge the snake into a plastic bag.
Phol Poompuang, head of corporate safety of AirAsia Thailand, confirmed the incident aboard Flight FD3015, which departed Jan. 13 from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok.
"Flight attendants were notified before landing in Phuket after a passenger noticed a small snake in the overhead luggage compartment," Phol said in a statement provided to CNN. "AirAsia crew were well trained to handle an occurrence of this nature and relocated passengers from the area as a precautionary measure."
Phol said the plane was inspected after landing to ensure there were no other slithering stowaways.
"As per standard procedure for an incident of this nature, the aircraft underwent a deep clean and fumigation before resuming operations," Phol said.
He said the snake spotting was "a very rare incident." A snake was previously found aboard an AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sabah in Malaysia in February 2022. The plane was diverted to Kuching International Airport in Sarawak.
