Unusual Flight Delay: How a Stowaway Snake Caused a Two-Hour Hold-Up on Virgin Australia Flight VA337
A Virgin Australia flight faced a two-hour delay after a stowaway snake was found in the cargo hold, nearly leading to an evacuation. The unusual incident took place on July 2, just as passengers were boarding Flight VA337 from Melbourne to Brisbane. Airline staff spotted the snake partially concealed behind a panel in the dimly lit hold and promptly called local snake catcher Mark Pelley.
Fortunately, the reptile turned out to be a harmless two-foot (60-centimeter) green tree snake, but initially, Pelley feared it might be venomous.
“It wasn’t until I caught the snake that I realized it wasn’t dangerous. Before that, it looked pretty menacing to me,” he shared.
Australia is home to some of the world’s most venomous snakes. Pelley warned the crew they would need to evacuate the aircraft if the snake escaped further inside.
“I warned them that if I didn’t catch it in one go, it could slip through the panels, and they’d have to evacuate the plane,” he explained. Luckily, I managed to grab it on my first attempt. If I hadn’t, the engineers and I would still be tearing apart a 737 looking for that snake right now.”
Pelley said he had to drive 30 minutes to the airport and was delayed by security checks before he could reach the aircraft.
The flight was grounded for about two hours while the snake was safely removed.
Since the green tree snake is native to the Brisbane area, Pelley suspects it may have hitched a ride in a passenger’s luggage on the previous flight from Brisbane to Melbourne and escaped before the return trip.
Due to quarantine regulations, the snake can’t be released back into the wild. Instead, it has been handed over to a Melbourne veterinarian, who will place it with a licensed snake keeper.
This isn’t the first time a snake has caused a commotion on a flight. In 2024, passengers on an AirAsia flight made headlines after spotting a live snake onboard, with viral footage capturing the unexpected visitor.