April 13, 2006

March 1, 2006

During an October, 1998 Ansett Airlines flight from Melbourne to Perth, Australia, 6-year-old Khyl Hardy reached under his seat for a lost lollipop and was bitten by a snake. Reports say his mother noticed something was wrong when the boy started trembling. Medical tests later confirmed that Khyl had in fact been bitten by a taipan snake. Bite victims have difficulty breathing and can suffer rapid paralysis; without an antidote, the likelihood of mortality is high. Thankfully, this young passenger survived.

Ansett grounded the A-320 aircraft in Adelaide, where seven snake catchers boarded to search for the creature. When their efforts failed, sniffer dogs were summoned. But the snake proved elusive for the four-legged posse as well. In the end, the airplane had to be fumigated. “We’re absolutely satisfied that there is no snake on that aircraft,” said Ansett spokesman Peter Young. He believes a passenger must have brought it onboard.

I think I remember Mikey Robbins saying that Ansett were going to change their safety performance to include something like “Should a taipan appear in the cabin, a mongoose will drop from overhead.”