Snake on a plane shocks pilot

An Australian pilot had the fright of his life when a snake popped out from his dashboard and crawled down his leg.

Braden Blennerhassett made a mayday call declaring: "We've got a snake on board", before making an emergency landing at Darwin.

"As the plane was landing, the snake was crawling down my leg, which was frightening," he later told Channel Nine.

The freakish incident, above the Northern Territory, was immediately likened to the cult Samuel L Jackson 2006 film Snakes on a Plane.

The snake was reportedly chasing a tree frog that had stowed away under the front passenger seat.

Believed to be a non-venomous golden tree snake, it has still not been found and ground crew have been trying to lure it out with a mouse.

Mr Blennerhassett's initial calls to his air company drew a sceptical response until he repeatedly requested a snake handler be ready when he landed.

"I've seen it on a movie once, but never in an airplane," he told ABC Television.

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