New Delhi: Passengers of a flight between Florida's Tampa to New Jersey in the US panicked when they encountered a snake roaming freely inside the plane on Monday. According to ANI, when the flight landed at Newark Liberty International Airport, workers were called to catch the reptile.
In a statement, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said that the airport's wildlife operations staff and Port Authority Police Department officers together removed the "garter snake" from United Flight 2038 and later on released it into the wild, according to The Washington Post. It also added that nobody was injured and the operations were not affected due to this incident.
United Flights said that it had alerted the crew to the snake, and the airline "called the appropriate authorities to take care of the situation."
According to the report, passengers flying in business class spotted the snake while the plane was taxiing after landing. Passengers started shrieking and pulling up their feet in a state of panic.
After the snake was removed, the passengers were allowed to deboard the plane. The authorities further checked for any other reptiles within the flight and found none, according to ANI.
The common garter snake is found in every Florida county and is not venomous or aggressive towards humans, the Washington Post report stated, citing the Florida Museum of Natural History. The snakes, which are typically between 18 and 26 inches long, will tend to avoid direct contact with humans or pets and only bite if "intentionally molested."
Garter snakes are also common in New Jersey, according to a "Snakes of New Jersey" pamphlet published by the state.
A similar incident took place, in February, on an AirAsia flight in Malaysia when the passengers found a snake while the plane was in the air. The viral Tik Tok video from the flight showed that the reptile was inside a light fixture above passengers, ANI reported.