Pilot Rudol Erasmus was in the air above South Africa on Monday when he felt "something cold" slither across his lower back. Looking down, he spotted a highly-venomous Cape cobra "receding back under the seat." (Yep, go ahead and say it.) After alerting the four passengers onboard the small plane, Erasmus made an emergency landing. Unfortunately though, snake handlers couldn't find the cobra to safely remove it from the aircraft and Erasmus's bosses instructed him to fly the plane back to northern South Africa yesterday. From the Associated Press:
This time Erasmus took some precautions: He wore a thick winter jacket, he said, wrapped a blanket round his seat, and had a fire extinguisher, a can of insect repellent and a golf club within arm's reach in the cockpit.
"I would say I was on high alert," Erasmus said.
The cobra didn't reappear on that flight and the plane has now been completely stripped, but still no sign of the snake, Erasmus said[…]
"I hope it finds somewhere to go," Erasmus said. "Just not my aircraft."
(Thanks, Chante McCormick!)
