‘Venomous’ snake escapes on packed TUI flight bound for UK | World | News

None of the 345 passengers on board noticed the scaly stowaway, thought to be a “mildly poisonous” false viper.

He was found by a cleaner shortly after landing in Gatwick on Friday, June 5.

An airport employee photographed a reddish-brown snake thought to have been smuggled from Cancun before it disappeared.

Engineers and animal experts tried to find him aboard the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which was due to be decommissioned, but the reptile remains missing.

The flight remains on the ground.

The Sun reported a source as saying: “It is not credible to believe that a passenger brought the fake viper on board.”

“It is unknown what damage the snake could have caused to the aircraft’s mechanics.”

“The sight of the snake almost gave the airline cleaners a heart attack. However, when they raised the alarm, the animal had disappeared.”

“There was no way the plane was going to be allowed to take off again.”

“If the passengers had seen the snake at 30,000 ft, there would have been blind panic and mayhem on board.”

The incident is reminiscent of the 2006 horror movie “Snakes on a Plane,” in which an FBI agent is forced to take charge of a passenger plane after a gangster releases venomous snakes during the flight to prevent a witness from testifying against him.

TUI sources said finding the snake was like “looking for a needle in a haystack”.

The airline was complying with International Civil Aviation Organization rules.