Lion Air Passengers Panic After Finding 12-Inch Scorpion in Overhead Compartment

OMG, I’d freak out if I find this on a plane! 

According to The Straits Times, passengers of Lion Air flight JT-293 were terrified by the surprise appearance of a 12-inch long scorpion and this had caused panic in the busy flight.

It looks pretty big!

Source: instagram

As reported by The Sun, The flight landed in Jakarta, Indonesia two hours after taking off from Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, Indonesia at 5pm on Thursday (February 14).

Passengers were seen panicking and they attempted to run for the exit when the poisonous arachnid’s legs were seen dangling over the overhead compartment with its huge pincers and venomous tail. Yikes! 

The 12-inch long scorpion, which resembled a poisonous Asian forest scorpion, was discovered by a female passenger who opened the overhead compartment on the flight. It is said that this species is one of the most aggressive scorpions found in Indonesia and they are capable of stinging its victims.

We wonder how it managed to get inside the flight in the first place?!

Source: daily mail

Source: daily mail

You can watch the video of the poisonous scorpion on-board the flight here:

Source: Daily Mail

Onlooker Karim Taslin said that one of the passengers was ready to take out their bags from the overhead compartment and was shocked to witness the sudden appearance of the scorpion above the seats.

”I was in row 19 with two other passengers, an elderly married couple. When we saw the scorpion above our heads we rushed out as fast as we could,” he added.

After all the rushing and panicking, the airline’s cabin crew arrived quickly and began searching for the critter. However, it had already vanished back inside the plane’s roof. 

Source: instagram

Till now, it is uncertain how the scorpion landed itself in the airplane. It is believed that it has been  living deep inside within the aircraft for at least a week. Karim further added,

“I didn’t have time to catch the scorpion. So it disappeared into the cabin baggage area. I pressed the emergency button. There was no response, so I shouted for help.”

“But at that time the atmosphere in the cabin was crowded with passengers picking up their luggage, so the crew were also slow to arrive at row 19.”

“When I think back it makes me shiver. The scorpion could have dropped on our heads and stung us.”

In a statement on Friday (15 February), Lion Air stated that they have sprayed the airplane a week earlier to ensure there were no creatures in the plane. Currently, the incident is being investigated whereas spokesman Danang Mandala Prihantoro said that from the video uploaded, the creature resembled “a spider”.

However, based on Karim’s post on Instagram, the creature clearly appears to be a scorpion.

View this post on Instagram

Kejadian tak terduga pada penerbangan Lion Air JT 293, Pku-Jkt, 14 Feb 2019. Tiba-tiba muncul kalajengking (scorpion) di tempat penyimpanan bagasi di atas tempat duduk. Persis di atas kepala saya. Semoga ada langkah penanganan yang serius dan pihak Lion Air. #kalajengkingdipesawat #kalajengkingdilionair #hororkalajengkinglionair #terbangbersamakalajengking #scorpionatlionair #flightwithscorpion

A post shared by Karim Taslim (@karimtaslim) on Feb 14, 2019 at 6:24pm PST

After the discovery of the scorpion, ground officers and technicians immediately arrived and carried necessary in-depth search and thorough handling of the aircraft after the passengers and cargo were removed. Also, no animals were found inside the plane.

We wonder where it went now! T_T

What would you have done if you were on this flight? Have you experienced any creepy crawlies on a plane before? Tell us in the comments!

Also read: Woman Suffers Severe Bug Bites and Damaged Luggage On BKK-SG Flight