on a Virgin Australia flight from Melbourne to Brisbane were postponed for almost two hours on Tuesday afternoon, thanks to an unexpected stowaway.
What's believed to be a green tree snake was discovered inside the freight hold of Virgin flight VA337 soon before departure.
Cabin crew spotted the reptile and rapidly shut the freight door, it inside before calling for .
That's when expert snake catcher Mark Pelley, referred to as 'The Snake Hunter', was employed to handle the slippery trespasser.
'I got a call from Virgin Australia. They said, 'There's a snake on an aircraft, can you come now?' I raced out there,' Pelley told Daily .
He stated it took him about half an hour to reach the airport, however surviving security included another hold-up.
'It took me about thirty minutes to get to the airport, then security took another 15 minutes to let me through.'
By that point, passengers had currently boarded and were left waiting on the tarmac while the situation was dealt with.
A green tree snake was identified on board in the freight hold of the Virgin Flight
Pelley discussed that he just had one shot to capture the snake, cautioning that it was little sufficient to vanish into the inner operations of the aircraft.
'If I didn't get it on the very first go, it left behind the panels and into the plane. So I had to rush and get it rapidly,' he said.
'Thankfully, it didn't get too far.'
It took Pelley just 30 seconds to catch the snake and protect it in a container.
He later on confirmed the creature was a green tree snake - a non-venomous species belonging to Queensland, where the airplane had flown in from earlier in the day.
'It's most likely someone it in their luggage, and it went out during the flight,' he described.
Pelley praised Virgin Australia for their handling of the .
'This kind of thing might occur anytime, anywhere in Australia. At no point were any guests at danger,' he said.
Pelley had the ability to capture the snake before it had the ability to move inside the aircraft
The snake is thought to have its way onto the aircraft by means of a guests suitcase
The snake will be handed over to ecological authorities and is anticipated to be gone back to the wild in Queensland.
While Pelley has actually responded to airport calls before, this was a very first for him.
'I've been called to the airport before, but never ever into the airplane itself. I've handled brown snakes in workplaces, inside facilities and support buildings.'
'Once, I even had to clear a snake off the runway. I had to drive my automobile onto the tarmac to remove it, airplanes were delayed just to let me do my task.'
Flight VA337 was initially arranged to leave at 4:10 p.m., but didn't remove till roughly 6:23 p.m.
. It landed in Brisbane at around 8:30 p.m.
Australia
