Alaska Airlines Flight Delayed After Passenger Is Stung By A Scorpion

(zonaphoto)

Now that we’ve all finally gotten over the nightmarish scenario of snakes taking over a plane (well, we’re almost over it) there’s a new terror in the skies to occupy that spot in our fears: An Alaska Airlines passenger was stung by a scorpion aboard a flight to Portland, OR from Los Angeles just before the plane was set to take off.

The flight was taxiing on the runway on Saturday night when the woman was stung, an airlines spokesman confirmed to the Associated Press.

The plane went back to the gate after she was stung, where she was checked out by medics. She refused any more medical treatment but didn’t get back on the plane. Because you know, sometimes after you’ve been stung by a scorpion on a plane, you’d rather not go back to that place.

In the meantime, flight attendants killed the scorpion and checked the overhead bins for any other stowaways. The spokesman said it’s unclear how the arachnid hitched a ride, but the flight came from Los Cabos, Mexico.

The flight was delayed about an hour, and happened to be carrying Oregon State University men’s basketball team. Their coach was sitting two rows behind the stung passenger.

“The plane was coming from Mexico before us, and (the scorpion) was on the plane,” Coach Wayne Tinkle told ESPN. “The woman was a real champ. She acted like it was a mosquito bite. They got it off her, but the needle was stuck.”

Yup. Scorpions on a plane have now become the new aviation nightmare.

Woman stung by scorpion on Alaska Airlines plane headed to Portland [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist