Pandemonium broke out on a domestic flight from Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, to the southern province of Phuket when passengers discovered a live snake in an overhead bin.
AirAsia Thailand, in a statement sent to CNN, acknowledged the incident.
This marks the second such occurrence involving a snake on an AirAsia plane.
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In February 2022, passengers discovered a spotted python on a domestic flight in Malaysia from Kuala Lumpur.
The situation led to the plane being rerouted to Kuching International Airport in Sarawak.
Videos and photos from the 2022 incident went viral on social media depicting the snake slithering through the plane’s light fixtures.
At that time, Air Asia described it as a rare incident that could happen on any aircraft occasionally.
AirAsia Thailand’s head of corporate safety emphasized that the recent snake sighting was also a “very rare incident.”
He explained that flight attendants were alerted before landing in Phuket.
A passenger spotted a small snake in the overhead luggage compartment.
In response, the AirAsia crew, well-trained for such situations, relocated passengers as a precaution.
The aircraft landed without further incident, underwent inspection by engineering and safety teams, and followed standard procedures with a deep clean and fumigation before resuming operations, as stated by Phol.
Although the type of snake remains unclear, a TikTok video reportedly captured by a passenger showed a male flight attendant calmly responding to the situation.
Armed with a plastic bottle, he attempted to capture the snake from the overhead bin, eventually coaxing it into a plastic bag.
Passengers near the bin stood away from their seats, recording the incident on their phones.
The airport ground security staff later investigated the captured area of the cabin upon landing in Phuket.
