1 of 1 Image of a typical South African cobra — Photo: Jon Richfield/Wikipedia Image of a typical South African cobra — Photo: Jon Richfield/Wikipedia
A South African pilot has made an emergency landing after claiming to have seen a fivefootlong cobra snake under his seat.
The flight took place on Monday (3).
In an interview with local newspaper Lowvelder, pilot Rudolph Erasmus said he was at an altitude of about 11,000 feet and in his plane with four passengers when he felt something cold on his waist.
Erasmus told the newspaper that he initially thought it was a leaking water bottle, but then realized it was a snake.
“When I turned left and looked down, I saw the snake heading for the area under the seat,” he said.
The snake Erasmus is said to have seen is a type of cobra with a bite that can be deadly.
In an interview with the BBC, he said he decided to tell passengers there was a snake on the plane and that he would make an emergency landing.
The plane had taken off from the city of Bloemfontein and the original destination was Pretoria, but it had to make an emergency landing in Welkom.
The aircraft was a Beechcraft Baron 58.
According to the BBC, the animal was not seen again after the snake landed engineers searched the plane but did not find it.