Scorpion on a plane to Pearson
Flight delayed by venomous stowaway
Toronto Star
January 08, 2007
Curtis Rush
Nick Kyonka
Staff Reporters
A scorpion that stung a man after getting loose aboard a Toronto-bound plane caused an hour-long delay yesterday at Pearson airport as transportation officials combed the aircraft for other possibly dangerous critters.
The arachnid apparently got through security in Costa Rica in the man's carry-on knapsack, according to airline officials.
The man was preparing to return to Canada from a Costa Rican camping trip with his brother when the scorpion crawled into his bag undetected, airline officials said.
The American Airlines flight had a stopover in Miami and no one saw a sign of the scorpion – until the plane took off for Toronto.
Suddenly, the scorpion managed to crawl out of the knapsack and stung the passenger on the back of the knee, according to airline officials and passengers.
"A young man on board said he was bitten by a scorpion," said American Airlines spokesman John Hotard, adding, "he even caught the scorpion because he felt it crawling up his pants leg."
When the plane touched down in Toronto, the man was taken off the plane and tested and treated by paramedics before being taken away on a stretcher.
The man, a bearded man with long hair and believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s, was being treated as passengers were getting ready to board American Airlines Flight 1011 to Miami.
Since the incident was an accident, airport police said the man would not be charged.
The return flight to Miami, due to start boarding at 11:30 a.m., didn't start boarding until 12:30 p.m. after passengers were assured that no other scorpions were found on the plane.
"As a precaution, we did go in and search the aircraft just to see if we could find anything else," noted Hotard, who said the incident was not completely unheard of.
"We've had cases where passengers have brought critters on board in their backpack and they get out and crawl around but it's rare."
Although the scorpion was killed during its capture, animal control officials that attended the scene identified it as a non-lethal type of scorpion and said the man should recover from the sting.
Passengers waiting in the departure lounge at Terminal 2, meanwhile, were kept apprised of the situation by airline officials.
"I had never heard anything like that in my life before," said passenger Jocie Espinoza, 24. "I was held up at security and the passengers were all talking about how a scorpion could get through security. How is that possible?"
"This is crazy," Espinoza said.
The moment wasn't without some humour.
When the passengers finally boarded the plane about an hour later, the captain came on and announced to passengers: "Welcome to Scorpion Flight 1011."
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