Oman Air flight from Muscat to London delayed: passenger bitten by a centipede

[luchtzak]

Strange tweet this afternoon: an Oman Air flight from Muscat to London Heathrow got delayed over 1 hour after one of the passengers got bitten by a centipede.

Never knew a centipede could bite!

Oman Air flight from Muscat to London delayed: passenger bitten by a centipede (duizendpoot/mille pattes) - Luchtzak.be

[DaveReidUK]

Was it a multi-leg flight ?

[Harry Wayfarers]

We've got centipedes here, the ones the size of caterpillars are fine but there are some that are a few inches long, I had already been warned about them when my ex got bitten by one, I needed to rush her to the hospital for some antibiotics then the rest of the day in bed.

[S.o.S.]

Thank you DaveReidUK, good to know you're still awake. I wonder if, to reach above shoes and socks to get at skin, did the centipede have to stand on its hind legs?

[Harry Wayfarers]

I wonder if, to reach above shoes and socks to get at skin, did the centipede have to stand on its hind legs?

My ex got bitten by one taking the laundry of the line, it had found it's way in to one of our bed sheets ... The b@stards can climb!

[onetrack]

Centipedes can most certainly bite, and their bite is very painful and the pain and swelling can last for 2-3 days. In the interior of Australia, as with many semi-desert regions, sleeping at ground level is very risky, as centipedes roam around at night, looking for food. They will climb into bedding seeking warmth or food. Australian centipedes can be up to 8" to 10" (20-25cm) long.

The biggest centipedes I have ever encountered was in the jungle canopy of South Vietnam, where they regularly reached 14"-15" (36-38cm long). What with massive scorpions, snakes such as cobras, savage monkeys, huge rats, along with a plethora of other nasty wildlife, the jungle in SVN wasn't exactly the safest place to move around in.