Pilot forced to make emergency landing after deadly cobra slithers up his shirt leaving passengers terrified
A PILOT was forced to make an emergency landing after a cobra slithered up his arm, leaving his passengers terrified.
Rudolph Erasmus said he felt a cold sensation he thought was a water bottle but to his horror realised is it was one of the deadly serpents, whose bite can kill in minutes.
The 30-year-old pilot was carrying four passengers on a private flight in South Africa when the unexpected visitor appeared.
"I felt this cool sensation, sort of, crawling up my shirt," he
"To be truly honest, it's as if my brain did not register what was going on. As I turned to the left and looked down I saw the cobra.”
He then had to break the alarming news to those on board as he prepared to make an emergency landing.
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"I did inform the passengers: 'Listen the snake is inside the aircraft, it's underneath my seat, so let's try and get down to the ground as soon as we can.'
“You could hear a needle drop and I think everyone froze for a moment or two."
The Beechcraft Baron 58 was on its way from Bloemfontein to Pretoria but diverted to the city of Welkom.
After the relieved passengers and pilot rapidly got off the plane, a snake catcher was brought in to find the cobra.
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While the appearance of the snake was terrifying, it wasn't entirely surprising.
Before the plane took off from Worcester flying club, two employees had spotted the snake underneath it and unsuccessfully tried to grab it.
They even took a picture of the snake on the ground by one of the wheels, underneath an engine.
Erasmus looked for the snake before boarding the aircraft with his passengers, but "unfortunately it was not there so he assumed it had slithered away".
“We all then safely assumed that it must have crawled out overnight or earlier that morning, which was on Monday,” he said.
But despite the efforts of the snake handler and engineers who stripped the plane after it landed, the elusive serpent has yet to be found.
Erasmus’s cool handling of the situation has won the praise of Poppy Khosa, the South African Civil Aviation commissioner, who hailed him as a hero.
“Oh my goodness this could have been disastrous. Great airmanship indeed which saved all lives on board,” she said.
“Such an amazing story and great handling of the situation by the pilot. Bravo to great airmanship.”
Modest Erasmus himself brushed it off, saying “it's also my passengers that remained calm as well”.
“This was definitely a first and not something you get trained to handle,” he said.
The Cape Cobra is found throughout in southern Africa, especially South Africa, Namibia and Angola, and its venom can kill in 30 minutes.
Adults can measure up to 5ft long and are recognisable from their hood which is used to intimidate potential predators.
The cobra’s adventure comes after a python hitched a ride from Australia to the UK in a tourist’s suitcase.
Moira Boxall, from Stirling, found the spotted python in a shoe after returning from a family holiday in Queensland.
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Meanwhile, passengers on board a flight in America were left horrified when a live snake was found on board by a young boy.