Pilot makes emergency landing after Cape Cobra slithers onto his lap

What started off as an epic adventure across the Worcester skyline turned into an absolute nightmare when the pilot of a Beechraft Baron felt a lethal Cape cobra slither across his lap, while in midair.

According to TimesLIVE, the commercial pilot – Rudolf Eramus – had been transporting four passengers from Worcester to Nelspruit when he was felt up by the venomous serpent.

Erasmus told the publication that during the pre-flight procedure, officials had noticed the cobra lying underneath the wing of the plane. They were unable to retrieve the snake though and did not see where it had slithered off to.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the snake had found refuge inside the aircraft’s engine cowlings.

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The pilot and his passengers nevertheless took off on Monday, 3 April, and it was during the second leg of the flight, that Erasmus said he felt the cobra slither on him.

Erasmus said he immediately declared an emergency with Johannesburg and landed the plan as soon as possible.

The passengers and Erasmus safely left the plane, with the snake coiled up under the pilot’s seat.

But Erasmus said by the time the snake catchers arrived, the snake had disappeared inside the aircraft again.

Nowhere to be found

The plane’s engineers stripped the aircraft in an attempt to find the snake, but it could not be located.

Officials searched the plane till evening, but realised it was too dark and that it was too dangerous to be looking for such a venomous snake in reduced light.

Erasmus said that they decided to put mealie meal around the aircraft to find the snake tracks in the morning.

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But when morning came, there was still no sign of the snake.

Since the incident, the passengers opted to drive back with the aviation engineer who helped dismantle the panels on the aircraft instead of boarding the aircraft again.

Meanwhile, Erasmus was due to fly the aircraft out on Wednesday. Erasmus said that he hopes the snake managed to find its way out of the aircraft again.

The Cape cobra, also called the yellow cobra, is a moderate-sized, highly venomous species of snake inhabiting a wide variety of biomes across southern Africa.