Stowaway Snakes

thehappyotter · Post by **thehappyotter** » 03 Jun 2006, 13:09

I don't think i'd have managed to remain this calm somehow...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. â€” Monty Coles was 3,000 feet in the air when he discovered a stowaway peeking out at him from the plane's instrument panel â€” a 4 1/2-foot black snake.

Coles had left Charleston earlier for a leisurely flight over the West Virginia countryside last Saturday in his Piper Cherokee and was preparing to land in Gallipolis, Ohio, when the snake revealed itself.

"Nothing in any of the manuals ever described anything like this," the 62-year-old Cross Lanes resident said. But the advice given 25 years earlier from his flight instructor immediately came to mind: "No matter what happens, fly the plane."

An attempt to swat the snake only resulted in it falling to Coles' feet under the rudder pedals. It then darted to the other side of the cockpit.

While maintaining control of the single-engine plane with one hand, Coles grabbed the reptile behind its head with his other.

"There was no way I was letting that thing go. It coiled all around my arm, and its tail grabbed hold of a lever on the floor and started pulling," Coles said.

The next step was to radio for emergency landing clearance.

"They came back and asked what my problem was. I told them I had one hand full of snake and the other hand full of plane. They cleared me in."

After a smooth landing, Coles posed for pictures with the snake, then let it loose.

"That snake resides in Ohio now," he said. "I wasn't about to bring it home. I don't mind snakes, but I sure like to know where they are."

Coles said he was lucky his usual travel companions, his wife and dachshund, were not on the flight.

"If my wife had been in the plane, I wouldn't have a wife, a plane or myself," Coles said. "I don't know what might have happened if Killer had been in the plane, but it sure would have been a lot more exciting."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,197976,00.html

britishtourer · Post by **britishtourer** » 03 Jun 2006, 13:23

Nice story! I love snakes so wouldn't be a problem for me - that is unless it was a Rattler or something!

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » 03 Jun 2006, 18:49

Nice story! I love snakes so wouldn't be a problem for me

Likewise, I kept and bred reptiles for years so it's one thing I ont have a problem with.

When I worked for a handling agent we found a stow away lizard in the hold of a flight from the Canaries, I adopted him and 'Ozzy' led a happy life in captivity !

Bruce

AndyG · Post by **AndyG** » 04 Jun 2006, 14:00

I assume you are all familiar with this upcoming film?

http://www.snakesonaplane.com/

AndyG

Post by **Garry Russell** » 04 Jun 2006, 14:10

Nope AndyG

But I am now

What if you were on a 747 full of deadly snakes........ :shock:

Terrifying :shock: , nightmare. :shock: ....imagine that.. :shock: .......being on a 747 :huf:

Garry

thehappyotter · Post by **thehappyotter** » 04 Jun 2006, 14:12

Quite possibly the worst titled film ever...

Robin · Post by **Robin** » 04 Jun 2006, 16:58

Oh my good god.

You are joking?

blanston12 · Post by **blanston12** » 04 Jun 2006, 17:08

thehappyotter wrote:Quite possibly the worst titled film ever...

I read that Samuel L Jackson agreed to do the film because of the name and has insisted that they not change it.

From wikipedia:

At one point, the film's working title was altered to Pacific Air Flight 121. In August 2005, a perturbed Samuel L. Jackson told an interviewer, "We're totally changing that back. That's the only reason I took the job: I read the title."[4] In another interview in early 2006, Jackson claimed that once he learned about the movie title being changed he said: "What are you doing here? It's not Gone with the Wind. It's not On the Waterfront. It's Snakes on a Plane!"[5] The film was soon reverted to the working title of Snakes on a Plane on March 2, 2006.

VEGAS · Post by **VEGAS** » 04 Jun 2006, 17:12

That really does sound sh!te... :huf:

AndyG · Post by **AndyG** » 05 Jun 2006, 09:40

A film with no pretensions to be arty, or meaningful. It does what it says on the can, as they say. It's going to be a supremely bad film so, obviously, has gained instant cult status. Samuel L obviously needed the money, but more power to him for sticking to the concept.

AndyG