United Airlines passenger stung by scorpion during flight
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United Airlines passenger stung by scorpion during flight
Something more to think about when flying. Scorpions? Must have been on-board for a couple of legs since the flight came out of SFO. One doesn't usually associate SFO and scorpions.
Not unheard of that some uninvited critters have been on board. I remember reading threads here about snakes and I seem to remember a crocodile too being loose in the cabin.
Back in the mid 1950'2, Trans Caribbean Airlines run by O. Roy Chalk was flying New York to Puerto Rico. There was a mass migration in progress up from the island. Their original DC-4 and DC-6 were replaced by two DC-6B's which were kept busy. I worked for LASI maintenance at KIDL and we met and dispatched all their flights there. I met a late arrival and as the air stairs were put up and door opened there seemed to be a very mad rush to get off the aircraft. The flight attendants were in a hurry too.
Little wonder. One of the pax had brought two paper shopping bags on board and stowed them in the open hat rack bins above the seats. Inside were some frustrated land crabs I suppose he was bringing north for a feast. They are big and ugly with a set of claws to match. Part way on the flight they broke loose and started spilling out onto the heads of the pax below. No bin doors up there in those days.
Luckily it was not a full boat for I imagined there was a stampede out of the affected seats. The FE naturally was tasked with dispatching the invaders. We went up in the cabin and saw the crunched remains of some but they missed on and he came out in the aisle and sidled along aft holding part of an apple core in on one claw. A mechanic's number 12's descended on him.
Pesky but non-threatening were the small chameleons that got on board in SJU. They would change colors to match the wall they were on excepting the metallic gold parts. They couldn't match that.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50701544
Not unheard of that some uninvited critters have been on board. I remember reading threads here about snakes and I seem to remember a crocodile too being loose in the cabin.
Back in the mid 1950'2, Trans Caribbean Airlines run by O. Roy Chalk was flying New York to Puerto Rico. There was a mass migration in progress up from the island. Their original DC-4 and DC-6 were replaced by two DC-6B's which were kept busy. I worked for LASI maintenance at KIDL and we met and dispatched all their flights there. I met a late arrival and as the air stairs were put up and door opened there seemed to be a very mad rush to get off the aircraft. The flight attendants were in a hurry too.
Little wonder. One of the pax had brought two paper shopping bags on board and stowed them in the open hat rack bins above the seats. Inside were some frustrated land crabs I suppose he was bringing north for a feast. They are big and ugly with a set of claws to match. Part way on the flight they broke loose and started spilling out onto the heads of the pax below. No bin doors up there in those days.
Luckily it was not a full boat for I imagined there was a stampede out of the affected seats. The FE naturally was tasked with dispatching the invaders. We went up in the cabin and saw the crunched remains of some but they missed on and he came out in the aisle and sidled along aft holding part of an apple core in on one claw. A mechanic's number 12's descended on him.
Pesky but non-threatening were the small chameleons that got on board in SJU. They would change colors to match the wall they were on excepting the metallic gold parts. They couldn't match that.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50701544
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My niece was moving to Colorado (with her parents) and her pet corn snake got loose. Apparently it shut down some part of PDX for awhile since corn snakes, although harmless, look deadly. When they moved from Colorado my sister mentioned that the rules for transporting snakes on airplanes seemed to have gotten much tougher...
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Some years ago I was on an evening flight from New York to Miami, during the time when "Bird flu" was in the news. A passenger was carrying a small transport cage; it was allowed in the cabin. During the flight a small green lovebird escaped from within and flew from one end of the aircraft to the other. Of course it knew exactly where it had to land.....on the headrest of a bloke (probably in his late thirties) who was probably absolutely petrified of birds at the best of times. He jumped out of his seat and ran down the aisle, screaming like a girl about bird flu and saying he was goddam well going to sue everyone for endangering his life!
To be fair, I probably didn't help by laughing uncontrollably at him; I thought he was pathetically hilarious.
To be fair, I probably didn't help by laughing uncontrollably at him; I thought he was pathetically hilarious.
Close relative of mine flying a Trislander of Air Kiribati from a remote Pacific atoll to the Central Pacific atoll of Tarawa. Cargo in cabin were bunches of bananas. Suddenly a large hairy spider (Tarantula type) appeared on his shoulder followed by several more scuttling around the cockpit. Pilot tried to swat them off his person with WAC series chart and succeeded in squashing a couple on the instrument panel. Rest of sortie spent knocking spiders of his lap.
After landing at Bonriki International Airport at Tarawa (in those days has a thatched covered passenger terminal plus one ancient fire tender that has very little water because it drives faster with less water), the pilot hurriedly exited stage left from the cockpit while locals cleared out the bananas and their occupants then loaded more bananas for the next leg to nearby atolls.
During climb out, more tarantulas appeared from behind bunches of bananas. These particular Tarawa arachidnas were significantly bigger than the other buggers and again much waving of the WAC chart which was by now covered in squashed remains. Stuff of nightmares.
In both cases a stable approach impossible..
After landing at Bonriki International Airport at Tarawa (in those days has a thatched covered passenger terminal plus one ancient fire tender that has very little water because it drives faster with less water), the pilot hurriedly exited stage left from the cockpit while locals cleared out the bananas and their occupants then loaded more bananas for the next leg to nearby atolls.
During climb out, more tarantulas appeared from behind bunches of bananas. These particular Tarawa arachidnas were significantly bigger than the other buggers and again much waving of the WAC chart which was by now covered in squashed remains. Stuff of nightmares.
In both cases a stable approach impossible..
Last edited by Centaurus; 10th Dec 2019 at 12:34.
They're All Over.
These particular Tarawa arachidnas were significantly bigger than the other buggers and again much waving of the WAC chart which was by now covered in squashed remains.
I'll get my coat...
#Tony: Your delightful story of the land crabs brings back childhood memories of RAF Khormaksar in 1951/52, described in Post #3558 on the Brevet thread, Gaining An R.A.F Pilots Brevet In WW II
A giant crab called Abdul was an honorary member of the Khormaksar Kids who were among the many pests found on the arid Aden Peninsula. The post recalls the morning that Abdul joined the Church Parade with painful results for all parties ...
A giant crab called Abdul was an honorary member of the Khormaksar Kids who were among the many pests found on the arid Aden Peninsula. The post recalls the morning that Abdul joined the Church Parade with painful results for all parties ...
