Johannesburg: South African pilot Rudolf Erasmus has been lauded by flight experts for a safe emergency landing after a highly venomous Cape cobra reared its head in the cockpit mid-flight.
Erasmus, who has been flying for the past five years, maintained his nerve as the cobra slid back under his seat as soon as he saw it.
He was flying a small aircraft with four passengers on Monday morning, from Worcester to Nelspruit.
Erasmus explained his dilemma to the website TimeLive.
“When we did the preflight [procedure] on Monday morning, the people at Worcester airfield told us they had seen a Cape cobra lying underneath the wing on Sunday afternoon. They tried to catch it themselves but unfortunately it sought refuge inside the engine cowlings. The group opened the cowlings but the snake was not there so they assumed it had slithered away,” he said.
“I usually travel with a water bottle that I lodge between my leg and my hip towards the side wall of the aircraft. When I felt this cold sensation where my love handles are, I thought my bottle was dripping. As I turned to my left and looked down, I saw the cobra putting its head back underneath my seat,” ,” Erasmus said.
He said that for a moment he was stunned silent.
“I had a moment of stunned silence, not sure if I should tell the passengers because I didn’t want to cause a panic. But obviously they needed to know at some point what was going on,” he said.
“I just said, ‘listen, there’s a problem. The snake is inside the aircraft. I’ve got a feeling it’s under my seat so we are going to have to get the plane on the ground as soon as possible,” he said.
The flight was close to the airport at Welkom, so Erasmus declared an emergency with the control tower in Johannesburg.
“I told them I had an unwelcomed passenger. As soon as the aircraft came to a stop, we started getting out. The three passengers in the back came out first and then the one sitting in front with me,” Erasmus said.
