Live snake found in Japan plane after flight canceled

A live snake about 40 centimeters long has turned up under the cabin carpet of a Japan Airlines group plane in Fukuoka, a day after a pilot spotted an animal in the cockpit and its flight was canceled.

Japan Air Commuter (JAC), the regional airline that operated the flight, said on Oct. 20 that a mechanic found the snake at Fukuoka Airport at around 1 p.m. that day while lifting the carpet at the rear of the cabin, Kyodo News reported.

An expert identified it from photos as a juvenile Japanese striped snake, a non-venomous species, and a pest control company captured it.

The airline said it did not know how the snake got aboard, and that it was the first such case it could confirm.

The ATR 42 turboprop had arrived from Izumo Airport in Shimane prefecture on Oct. 19 and was due to leave for Kagoshima as flight JAL3653 at 12:50 p.m.

At around 12:45 p.m., before passengers boarded, a pilot noticed something moving near the cockpit floor, apparently smaller than a dog or cat, The Asahi Shimbun reported. A search failed to find it, and the flight, which had 43 passengers booked, was canceled at 2 p.m.

An adult Japanese striped snake, the species found on a Japan Air Commuter plane. Photo by Alpsdake

JAC canceled it because the animal could pose a risk to passengers in the cabin, the newspaper said. With no reports of a pet escaping on board, the airline suspected a wild animal and kept searching the plane through the night.

JAC said the plane would return to service once checks confirmed none of its equipment was damaged.

Flightradar24 data cited by the newspaper showed the aircraft had also stopped at Osaka's Itami, Izumo, Oki, Kagoshima, Okinoerabu and Yakushima airports, among others, in the three days to Oct. 19.

Hiroshi Sugie, a former Japan Airlines captain turned aviation commentator, told the newspaper he had never heard of a snake getting into a cockpit or cabin in more than 40 years as a pilot.

Japanese striped snakes are found across most of Japan and can grow to more than a meter long as adults.

In February 2022, AirAsia diverted a Kuala Lumpur-Tawau flight to Kuching to fumigate the plane after a video shared online appeared to show a snake in the cabin, Malay Mail reported.