Snake on a plane: reptile causes emotional turbulence on United Airlines jet

Business-class passengers on a United Airlines flight from Florida to New Jersey encountered turbulence when a live snake appeared on the plane.

According to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a harmless snake was found on United Airlines Flight 2038 after it landed at Newark Liberty International Airport.

One passenger told News 12 New Jersey that as the plane taxied from the runway to the gate, passengers in the business class cabin began screaming and pulling their feet up off the floor.

Airport animal-control officers and Port Authority police officers were at the gate when the plane arrived and removed the snake which was later released into the wild.

She said there were no injuries, no impact to the airport, and the plane left Newark.

Crew members who were notified by passengers called the appropriate authorities to take care of the situation, according to a United spokesman.

None of the parties mentioned how the snake might have gotten onto the plane.

The situation reminded some passengers of the movie Snakes on a Plane, a fictional story about criminals trying to kill a witness in a murder trial by releasing venomous snakes on a plane.

There have been other instances of a serpent hitching a ride on a jet. A large snake was found slithering through the passenger cabin of an Aeromexico flight to Mexico City in 2016 and a python was spotted by passengers clinging to the airplane wing on a flight from Australia to New Zealand in 2013).