Passengers on a flight from Australia to Papua New Guinea were shocked to look out their cabin windows to find a huge snake on the wing of the plane.
The three metre-long non-poisonous Amethystine python appeared about an hour into the Qantas flight between Cairns in northern Queensland and the Papua New Guinean capital of Port Moresby on Thursday.
A crew member told Australian media that the initial reaction when the python's presence was first reported was "you've got to be kidding".
The slithery stowaway was believed to have crawled onto the plane from scrubland or mangroves that surround the airport in tropical Cairns, Reuters reports.
The snake is also known as a scrub python and can grow to as much as 8.5 metres long.
Qantas said there was no impact on the safe operation of the aircraft due to the snake's presence. The Bombardier Q400 was cleared to resume flying after it landed in Port Moresby. The python, unfortunately, was found dead on arrival.
