Not an unruly passenger, this time a snake causes panic & fear on United Airlines Jet

In a rare incident, a United Airlines flight that was flying from Florida's Tampa to New Jersey on Monday encountered an unexpected appearance of a snake on board. Startling the passengers, a "garter snake" was found on United Airlines Flight 2038. When the aircraft landed at Newark Liberty International Airport, passengers immediately alerted the staff at to catch the slithering animal. 

According to The News 12 New Jersey, after the plane landed at around 1:15 p.m. (local time) following the two-hour trip from Tampa, passengers' screams were heard from the business class area of the aircraft as it was taxiing towards its gate. According to the media reports, frightened passengers raised their feet to escape the serpent as it glided around the cabin. 

Garter snake on a plane

In addition to this, the port authority of New York as well as New Jersey reported in a statement that officials from the port authority police department and the airport's wildlife operations staff met at the gate of the United Flight 2038 and removed the "garter snake". They later released the creature back into the wild, Washington Post reported. The statement also revealed that no one was hurt and operations were not affected. 

The United Flight further stated that after being informed about the snake by passengers, the crew "called the appropriate authorities to take care of the situation." Once the plane arrived at the gate, according to a Port Authority representative, officers entered the aircraft and removed the snake. However, it is still unknown how the snake entered the aircraft," The New York Post reported.  

As per Simple Flying, when the snake was removed, the passengers and their luggage were deplaned, and the aircraft was checked for any further snakes that could have made their way on board. However, none was located. 

This incident disrupted the operation for only 20 minutes before the plane departed for Fort Myers, Florida. 

According to the Washington times, which cited the Florida Museum of Natural History, the common garter snake may be found in every county in Florida and is neither poisonous nor hostile toward people. The snakes, which are normally 18 to 26 inches long, generally avoid direct contact with people or animals and only bite when they are "intentionally molested." 

(Image: Pixabay/ Representative)