‘We have a loose snake on the plane’: Previous passenger leaves pet behind

Flight to Alaska's largest city becomes dramatic when the pilot announces there's a snake on the loose.

A flight attendant holds a snake found on a Ravn Alaska flight between Aniak, Alaska and Anchorage. The snake escaped from a passenger on a previous flight. Anna McConnaughy via AP

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA // Anna McConnaughy was flying to Alaska’s largest city when the announcement came over the intercom: a passenger on a previous flight had brought a pet snake on board.

The passenger had gotten off the plane. The snake had not.

“The pilot came, and said, ‘Guys, we have some loose snake on the plane, but we don’t know where it is,”’ Ms McConnaughy said Tuesday.

Unlike the movie Snakes On A Plane this one wasn't venomous. Mostly, it was sleepy.

A little boy, one of seven passengers on the Ravn Alaska commuter flight Sunday from the Alaska village of Aniak to Anchorage, was climbing on his seat when he spotted the slumbering snake. It was lying partially covered by a duffel bag near the back of the plane.

The snake lies beneath a duffel bag on a Ravn Alaska flight between Aniak, Alaska and Anchorage. Anna McConnaughy via AP

“He said, ‘Oh, Mom, look at this. What’s that?”’ Ms McConnaughy said. “That’s how we figured out there was a snake sleeping in the corner.”

There was no panic. Ms McConnaughy said. Mostly people wanted to see the snake.

A pilot came back to help, she said, leading to a short discussion with a flight attendant on how best to capture it.

“He said, ‘I’ll hold the bag, and you grab the snake,”’ Ms McConnaughy said. “Quite a gentleman.”

The flight attendant grabbed the snake by the belly and dropped it into a plastic trash bag. It spent the rest of the flight in an overhead storage bin, and the plane reached Anchorage on schedule.

Anchorage television station KTVA first reported the incident.

A flight attendant places a snake into a plastic trash bag on a Ravn Alaska flight. Anna McConnaughy via AP

Ms McConnaughy’s photos show a pale snake about 4 to 5 feet long. She said it appeared to want only to go back to sleep.

A spokesman for the airline, William Walsh, said in a statement that the snake owner had not registered the pet for travel in the cabin of the Ravn Alaska flight. After arriving in Aniak, he reported that his snake was missing and likely on the return trip to Anchorage.

The airline was thankful for the heads-up, Mr Walsh said. However, it has specific requirements for carrying on reptiles. Ravn Alaska does not allow any large animal that’s not a dog to be used as a service animal.

Ms McConnaughy said there are plenty of snakes where she grew up in the Russian Far East. However, there are no wild snakes in most of Alaska, and she’s not crazy about them, she said.

“Here in Alaska, it’s kind of weird,” she said.

* Associated Press