Snake Removed from Commercial Flight by Disney Star — Who Got a Free Drink for His Service!

Mar. 15, 2025

Stimson’s Python.Photo:Getty

Getty

On Thursday, Nov. 21, Virgin Airlines flight VA1482 in Australia was delayed 20 minutes after passengers spotted a wild snake on board, per Australia’sABC. The flight from Broome to Perth was set to leave at 10:30 a.m. local time but was pushed back after someone allegedly yelled that a snake was on board ahead of takeoff, passenger Andre Rerekura told the outlet.

Luckily for those on the flight, Rerekura wasn’t just any passenger—he’s also featured in Disney+’s mini-seriesShipwreck Hunters Australia, and he told ABC that he thought the Stimson’s python that ended up on the plane was “cute.” The series itself follows divers, filmmakers, and archaeologists as they explore “shipwreck secrets” in Western Australia, per asynopsis, with Rerekura serving as a water cinematographer.

While removing the snake from the plane didn’t require diving, Rerekura still took on the wildlife challenge.

“They pretty much shut the whole plane down, and everyone was going to get disembarked and sent off the plane, which we weren’t that keen for because everyone wanted to go home,” Rerekura told ABC. “It was a little bit of a weird story to think it was true, to hear that there was a snake on the plane, so I don’t think a lot of people believed it.”

Stimson’s Python.Getty Images/iStockphoto

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Footage shared toRerekura’s Instagram Storyshows him waving a fist in the air as passengers cheer and as a flight attendant says over the plane’s intercom that “there is never a dull moment in aviation.”

“I think everyone was relieved that they didn’t have to get off the plane, and then a lot of people were happy that the snake was safe,” he told ABC. “The staff were awesome. They gave me a complimentary drink, I had a soda water.”

Andre Rerekura in ‘Shipwreck Hunters Australia’.Disney+

Disney+

Broome International Airport chief executive Craig Shaw told ABC he was “uncertain how the reptile came to be” on board. “Our staff assisted in the removal of the reptile, and there was minimal disruption to the service,” he said.

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This Australian flight wasfar from the first timesomebody found a snake on a plane. In 2023, a pilot in South Africa made an emergency landing after a venomous Cape cobra appeared in his cockpit. In April 2024, a passenger at Miami International Airportattempted to sneak a bag of snakes, which he hid in his pants, on a flight before the snakes were turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

As for the type of snake spotted on Rerekura’s flight, a Stimson’s python “inhabits the largest range of any other Australian python species,” per theAustralian Museum. It is also a “popular species to be kept in captivity,” with its bites often being “food-related” rather than “aggressive.”

source: people.com