In a moment straight out of the 2006 blockbuster “Snakes on a Plane,” a South African pilot said he found a deadly cobra in his cockpit.
Rudolph Erasmus was flying a private plane at 11,000 feet when he suddenly felt a “cold sensation” near his hip.
“I felt this little cold sensation underneath my shirt where my hip is situated — but basically where you’ve got your little love handles,” Erasmus told NPR.
Assuming his water bottle was leaking, he looked down, only to realise it was something far more terrifying: a massive Cape cobra, he said.
Cape cobras are classified as highly venomous and, along with the black mamba, “accounts for the majority of fatal snake bites in South Africa,” according to the African Snakebite Institute.
With four passengers onboard his Beechcraft Baron 58, Erasmus remained calm — even after the serpent slithered past him and disappeared from sight.
“It was receding under my chair. I kept quiet for a minute or two, because I didn’t want the passengers to panic. I informed them a snake was under my seat in the cockpit and I needed to land the plane as soon as possible,” he told local news outlet Lowvelder.
After alerting the appropriate authorities on the radio, Erasmus was swiftly given permission to land at the nearest airport.
Upon evacuating everyone safely, the steady-handed pilot said he “stood on the wing on the plane“ to see if he could locate the snake again.
Comparing the alarming incident to “Snakes on a Plane,” which follows an FBI agent (Samuel L. Jackson) who faces off against a horde of deadly venomous snakes on a plane, Erasmus — who says he’s seen the movie before — told NPR: “That’s how I felt at some point.”
The snake on the plane was not spotted again, according to Lowvelder.
As far as the slithering reptile’s size: “It was quite a big fellow,” Erasmus said.
South Africa’s director of civil aviation, Poppy Khoza, also praised Erasmus, calling him “a hero” who “saved all lives on board,” according to News24.