Tui flight left shocked after snake discovered on board London-bound plane
A snake which had been smuggled onto a flight bound for Britain is still missing days later.
The reptile was brought on board a TUI flight from Cancun in Mexico to London Gatwick.
In an incident that echoes the cult Samuel L Jackson film from 2006, Snakes on a Plane, the reptile was let loose on board the aircraft.
Even more shockingly, none of the 345 passengers on board clocked the stowaway.
While it was initially suspected the snake was "mildly venomous", TUI has now refuted these claims.
The snake was eventually discovered by a cleaner, who made the shocking discovery after the plane had landed at Gatwick.
An airport worker managed to spot the reddish-brown snake, thought to have been smuggled on at Cancun, before it disappeared.
The creature is theorised to be a lizard-eating Salmon-bellied Racer, usually found in the tropical dry forests throughout Central America.
The Salmon-bellied Racer is not venomous but is known to bite people if caught.
Animal experts and engineers have attempted to find the reptile on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which had to be taken out of service.
Last night, the aircraft was still grounded, reports The Sun.
Sources at Tui said trying to find the snake is like "trying to find a needle in a haystack", and it was adhering to International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines.
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A source said: "It beggars belief that a passenger brought the mock viper on board. It’s not known what damage the snake could do to the mechanics of the plane.
"The sight of the snake almost gave the airline cleaners a heart attack. But by the time they had raised the alarm the animal had disappeared.
"There was no way the airliner could be allowed to take off again. If passengers had seen the snake at 30,000ft there would have been blind panic and pandemonium on board."
A spokesman for Tui told GB News there has been no impact to the airline's flight schedule as a result or any impact to customers.
Tui recently revealed a 10 per cent drop in UK summer bookings as consumers hesitate to make bookings and switch destinations.
The holiday firm confirmed it took a €61million (£39million) hit from the Iran war and hurricanes in Jamaica.
Europe’s largest travel operator is one of several firms to be impacted by the conflict in the Middle East, which began at the end of February.
It said booked revenues for summer were down seven per cent compared with 2025 for its tours and airline, falling to 10 per cent for the UK market alone.
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