Snake on a plane: Passengers on AirAsia flight panic as reptile found in overhead bin

A snake was found crawling on an AirAsia flight

A Phuket-bound flight devolved into chaos after a snake was discovered crawling in the overhead compartment. A viral TikTok video shows panicked passengers moving away from the snake that was discovered on an AirAsia Thailand flight on January 13.

In a statement to CNN, AirAsia Thailand said it was aware of the incident. “This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time,” the airline said.

Footage shared on TikTok shows how the snake was found slithering above the overhead compartment on Flight FD3015 between Bangkok and Phuket.

My worst fear: pic.twitter.com/MJPfMeSclk

— Mothership (@MothershipSG) January 16, 2024

A person, reportedly a crew member, tried to capture the reptile in an empty plastic bottle. It was eventually swept inside a plastic bag.

It is not clear how the snake managed to find its way into the plane, although authorities suspected it may have been smuggled inside a passenger’s bags. Once the plane landed in Phuket, passengers’ carry-on bags were searched to ascertain whether someone had smuggled snakes onto the flight.

News website Mothership also reported that the snake was identified as a Blanford’s bridle snake, a harmless, non-venomous species endemic to Asia.

This is the second instance of a snake being found on an AirAsia flight. In February 2022, a python was spotted on a domestic flight in Malaysia.

However, Phol Poompuang, head of corporate safety of AirAsia Thailand, called snake spottings on airplanes a very rare incident. “Flight attendants were notified before landing in Phuket after a passenger noticed a small snake in the overhead luggage compartment,” he said in the statement to CNN.

“AirAsia crew were well trained to handle an occurrence of this nature and relocated passengers from the area as a precautionary measure.”

“As per standard procedure for an incident of this nature, the aircraft underwent a deep clean and fumigation before resuming operations,” Phol said.