Snake Spotted In Dubai-Bound Air India Flight's Cargo Hold, DGCA To Probe Incident

A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the snake was found in the cargo hold of the flight after it arrived at the Dubai airport.

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New Delhi: A snake was spotted in the cargo hold of a Dubai-bound Air India Express flight after it landed at the airport on Saturday, news agency PTI reported.

According to the report, the Air India B737-800 aircraft came from Calicut, Kerala and the passengers were safely deplaned.

A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the snake was found in the cargo hold of the flight after it arrived at the Dubai airport. The airport fire services were also informed, the DGCA official said, adding they are probing the incident.

On arrival in Dubai, a snake was found in a cargo hold in Air India Express B737-800 aircraft VT-AXW operated flight IX-343 (Calicut-Dubai). Passengers were safely deplaned and airport fire services were informed. Aircraft fumigation is in progress.

— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2022

“It is a ground handling lapse. The incident shall be probed and suitable enforcement action shall be taken,” the official told PTI.

An Air India Express spokesperson could not be reached for comments. Details about the number of passengers could not be immediately ascertained.

In a similar incident, a snake was spotted in a flight from Florida's Tampa city to New Jersey in October this year.

According to reports, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement that the airport's wildlife operations employees and Port Authority Police Department officers met United Flight 2038 at the gate and removed the "garter snake" and later released it into the wild.

The statement further added that no one was injured and flight operations were not affected.

As per reports, the passengers flying in the business class first spotted the snake while the plane was taxing after landing. They started shrieking and pulling up their feet as the sudden sighting of the reptile sent the passengers into panic.

Earlier in 2016, a large snake -- believed to be a venomous green viper -- emerged from an overhead compartment on an Aeromexico flight in Mexico.

A video posted on Twitter showed the reptile hanging from the ceiling of the plane, which received priority landing clearance when it reached Mexico City.