‘Snake on plane’: Reptile delays flight after sneaking onto passenger aircraft | Video

A Virgin Australia flight from Melbourne to Brisbane was delayed for nearly two hours after a green tree snake was found inside the plane’s cargo hold shortly before take-off. Cabin crew spotted the reptile and quickly closed the cargo door, trapping it inside before calling for help. Professional snake catcher Mark Pelley, also known as The Snake Hunter, was urgently called to the airport.

“I got a call from Virgin Australia. They said, ‘There’s a snake on a plane, can you come now?’ I raced out there,” Pelley told the Daily Mail Australia.

Although he reached the airport in about 30 minutes, strict security checks caused a further delay. “It took me about 30 minutes to get to the airport, then security took another 15 minutes to let me through,” he explained.

By the time Pelley was cleared to enter, passengers were already seated on the aircraft, waiting on the tarmac while the situation was being handled.

Footage of the snake being caught has since gone viral. The Daily Mail shared the video on Instagram, captioning it: “Passengers on a Virgin Australia flight from Melbourne to Brisbane were delayed for nearly two hours, thanks to an unexpected stowaway. What’s believed to be a green tree snake was discovered inside the cargo hold shortly before departure. Cabin crew spotted the reptile and quickly shut the cargo door, locking it inside before calling for assistance. Tap the link for the full story on DailyMail.com.”

Social media users have expressed both shocked and amusement by the bizarre incident. One joked, “Wasn’t there a movie about snakes on a plane?” while another asked, “How he got his boarding pass and passed security checks.” A third simply remarked, “Obviously it’s Australia.”

Pelley described the urgency of the task, saying, “If I didn’t get it on the first go, it could’ve escaped behind the panels and into the plane. So I had to rush and get it quickly. Thankfully, it didn’t get too far.”

He managed to catch and secure the snake in a container in just 30 seconds. Pelley later confirmed it was a green tree snake—a harmless, non-venomous species native to Queensland. “It’s likely someone accidentally packed it in their luggage, and it got out during the flight,” he said.

Despite the delay, Pelley praised the airline’s quick response. “This kind of thing could happen anytime, anywhere in Australia. At no point were any passengers at risk,” he assured.

The snake will be handed over to wildlife authorities and is expected to be released back into the wild in Queensland.

Although Pelley is used to handling snakes at airports, this was an unusual callout even for him. “I’ve been called to the airport before, but never into the plane itself. I’ve dealt with brown snakes in offices, inside infrastructure and support buildings. Once, I even had to clear a snake off the runway. I had to drive my car onto the tarmac to remove it—planes were delayed just to let me do my job,” he recalled.