Snake spotted on plane forces flight to make emergency landing

AIRASIA A330-343 9M-XXI (MSN 1411)

An AirAsia flight from Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur (KUL/WMKK) to Tawau Sabah (TWU/WBKW) was forced to divert to Kuching International Airport (KCH/WBGG) on Thursday after passengers spotted a live snake in an overhead compartment.

The airline confirmed "an incident" on board flight AK5748 after a TikTok user posted a video showing the silhouette of a snake moving slowly in what appears to be a plane's luggage compartment. "AirAsia is aware of an incident on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau on Thursday," AirAsia's chief safety officer Liong Tien Ling told Malay Mail. "As soon as the captain was aware, he made the decision to divert the aircraft to Kuching as a precautionary measure to fumigate the aircraft. "This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time," he added.

A spokesman for the airline said that passengers were diverted to Kuching, Sarawak—some 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) away from the plane's original destination. 

Airline staff were still searching for the reptile when the aircraft landed in Kuching, according to the news outlet. All affected passengers then departed Kuching for Tawau later on Thursday.

It isn't clear what species of snake was on board the flight or what happened to it.
According to a google search 18 of the 140 snake species in Malaysia are venomous. 

Venomous species found in the country include the Cobra, the Malayan Pit Viper, the Mangrove and Mountain Vipers, the Striped Coral Snake and the Speckled Coral Snake.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: AirAsia

Code: AK/AXM

Aircraft: Airbus A320-216

Registration: 9M-RAN

Serial Number: 8797

First Flew: 13/05/2019