Giant Python on a Plane … Literally!

A 10-foot long python tried to hitch a ride on a Qantas flight from Australia to Papua New Guinea Thursday, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The doomed scrub python was trapped on the outside of the plane after the flight took off. Paul Cousins, the president of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, told the Sydney Morning Herald, “‘It appears as though the snake has initially crawled up inside the landing bay, maybe housed himself in there, and then crawled into the trailing ledge flap assembly.”

Passengers aboard the flight watched the snake through the windows. One flyer told the Herald, “I felt quite sad for it, really. For the remainder of the flight, he was trying to pull himself back into the plane, even though he was fighting against 400km/h winds. The cabin crew told us that at cruising altitude, it was minus 12 degrees outside—but not even that was able to finish him…Until we landed, I looked out the window and the thing was still moving.”

Unfortunately for the snake, it was unable to survive the rough ride, and was found dead once the plane landed.

Not squeamish? Watch the video of the snake’s flight, filmed by a Qantas passenger, below.

(Photo: Python via Shutterstock)