“Snakes on a Plane” Eventually Becomes a Real-Life ‘Movie’ on A Flight in Mexico

A passenger, Indalecio Medina, who happens to be a university rector from Torreon, uploaded a video of the encounter via his Twitter account, @Inda_medina. He even wittingly wrote in his caption: “The flying viper, HA HA HA.” His tweet has garnered over 4,600 retweets at the time of posting.

La vibora voladora...ja ja ja. Una experiencia única en el Vuelo Torreón-México, vuelo 231 de Aeroméxico. Eso si...Prioridad en aterrizaje. pic.twitter.com/qwDk6Wtszw

— Indalecio Medina (@Inda_medina) November 6, 2016

“I was reading a magazine and the passenger next to me saw it and screamed ‘Oh my word!’” Medina told The Guardian. Imagine reading an article about snakes and suddenly looking up to see it right in front of your eyes. Now that sounds like a scene out of Jumanji combined with Snakes on a Plane.

Passengers who had to go through this harrowing experience immediately left their seats and stayed at a safe distance from the serpent. “They tried to trap the snake with blankets given by the flight attendant,” said Medina. “It was a frightening situation... but people remained calm because it didn’t get out of that space and nobody became hysterical.” He estimated the snake to be 1m-long.

The presence of the reptile created enough high-mile drama for the flight to earn a priority-flight landing from air traffic authorities. (Who in their sane mind wouldn’t want to land immediately upon discovering the slithering being?!) The domestic flight that was initially bound for Mexico City from Torreon landed safely 10 minutes later.

Animal expert Juan Carlos Gomez Juarez said it was clear from the video that the passengers were not dealing with a poisonous snake. No passengers were hurt but some were clearly emotionally distressed. "It is just really common for people to panic when they see snakes," he said. Well Gomez, we’d jump right out of the plane if we saw one slithering down next to us on a plane, to be honest.