Flight VA337 from Melbourne to Brisbane was held up for more than an hour when the stowaway reptile was discovered in the cargo hold.
Professional snake catcher Mark Pelley was called in to catch the critter, believed to be a green tree snake. Airline officials think the snake was concealed in a suitcase from Queensland and escaped during transit.
Mr Pelley told breakfast TV show Sunrise it was the first time he’d caught a snake on a plane.
“Snakes are everywhere. In Australia I find them in schools, factories, offices, businesses, airports, you name it, I find snakes. It’s one of the things of being in our wonderful country,” he said.
“The snake was very scared. It wasn’t angry. Snakes never try to hurt people. They’re always trying to get away. This snake was in a position where it was almost behind the panels.
“Had I not caught it on the first go, it would have crawled behind the panels of the plane. They’d have had to evacuate the plane and I would have been with the engineering team pulling apart the plane.”
The snake was unharmed during the incident and is now with a vet before it’s future is decided.
