A snake that traveled over a thousand kilometers after sneaking onto a United Airlines flight from Florida’s Tampa International Airport (TPA) to New Jersey’s Newark Airport (EWR) had to be removed by authorities upon landing. 

United Airlines confirmed to CBS News that after “being alerted” to the presence of the snake by passengers, the crew “called the appropriate authorities to take care of the situation”.

The airport’s wildlife operations staff and Port Authority Police Department officers met United Flight 2038 at the gate and removed the garter snake, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement seen by the Washington Post.

Unlike the Samuel L Jackson film “Snakes on a Plane” (2006), this hitch-hiking snake did not cause any undue harm other than causing business class cabin passengers to shriek and pull their feet up, according to local media News 12 New Jersey.  

While not a common occurrence, various wildlife have been caught on commercial flights throughout the years, including a mouse that delayed a British Airways flight, and a centipede that hid in an Oman Air passenger’s pocket.