Python Photographed Clinging To Airplane In Flight

How weird! I saw this on TV last night and two thoughts crossed my mind:

1. Why did the plane not turn around re: in-flight safety?

2. If a massive snake can sneak on a plane and remain undetected, it speaks volumes about security at Cairns airport.
 
nanoboy said:
How weird! I saw this on TV last night and two thoughts crossed my mind:

1. Why did the plane not turn around re: in-flight safety?

2. If a massive snake can sneak on a plane and remain undetected, it speaks volumes about security at Cairns airport.
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1) How was it affecting in-flight safety? The snake couldn't get into the plane from where it was.

2) A 3m snake is big, but there is no reason to expect it to trigger security alarms/censors/whatever surrounds the runway at Cairns. I don't think it says anything about the airport's security, which is probbaly aimed more at human intruders rather than wildlife. There are probably a number of relatively large animals (e.g. pythons, monitors?, variuos birds and mammals) that enter the runway area but do not cause any issues normally. If these all caused the alarms to go off that would be more annoying than useful. Wouldn't it?
 
zooboy28 said:
1) How was it affecting in-flight safety? The snake couldn't get into the plane from where it was.

2) A 3m snake is big, but there is no reason to expect it to trigger security alarms/censors/whatever surrounds the runway at Cairns. I don't think it says anything about the airport's security, which is probbaly aimed more at human intruders rather than wildlife. There are probably a number of relatively large animals (e.g. pythons, monitors?, variuos birds and mammals) that enter the runway area but do not cause any issues normally. If these all caused the alarms to go off that would be more annoying than useful. Wouldn't it?
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1. In-flight means "during flight" rather than "in the cabin". E.g. In-flight refuelling. So I meant that the snake could have posed a mechanical hazard. Having said that, I suppose that the snake was not near the fan/air intake, but was near the exhaust or on the side at best. Although, without watching the video again, I can't say if it was hindering the flaps from moving, in which case they would have been in problems. I guess the pilot thought it was ok to proceed, as he hoped the snake would have broken apart.

2. Ground staff are supposed to inspect an aircraft before takeoff. A three metre snake is a bit larger than a bomb, so you would hope they would spot these things.
 
nanoboy said:
2. Ground staff are supposed to inspect an aircraft before takeoff. A three metre snake is a bit larger than a bomb, so you would hope they would spot these things.
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Not much larger, they can curl up into quite a small space. A friend of mine lost his 4 metre olive python while he was cleaning it's cage. It remained hidden in the house for three weeks until it reappeared one night.

And anyway, the aircraft inspection is mechanical and doesn't always look up on the wings (I think it's more for the wheels and struts which undergo a lot of stress at take-off and landing, and the various external sensors). The security screening for bombs and such is done on the baggage.

:p

Hix
 
Hix said:
Not much larger, they can curl up into quite a small space. A friend of mine lost his 4 metre olive python while he was cleaning it's cage. It remained hidden in the house for three weeks until it reappeared one night.

And anyway, the aircraft inspection is mechanical and doesn't always look up on the wings (I think it's more for the wheels and struts which undergo a lot of stress at take-off and landing, and the various external sensors). The security screening for bombs and such is done on the baggage.

:p

Hix
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Yikes! A 4m python getting lost in your house sounds scary. :eek:

An inspection also includes looking at the wings as that's where the fuel is, and wings probably undergo the greatest stresses during flight. But if you say they curl up into a small ball, then it makes detection more difficult. I sort of imagined it sunning itself on the wings, or wrapped around the landing gear.

I probably watch too many movies, but I meant that if a 3m python can slither on to the Tarmac, climb on to a plane, wedge itself in the wing and evade inspection, then it isn't a far stretch for a confident terrorist to walk on the Tarmac or in hangar, slap a sticky bomb to the aircraft, and no one will find it.
 
I'm on the gold coast right now and this is a big animal news story along with a juvenile saltwater crocodile being found just north of Surfers Paradise beach (Southport). Both bizarre stories.
 
Poor snake. The warm tarmac and plane engines probably attracted it at night.

I kinda agree with nanoboy. I really don't think that current airport security standards (anywhere in the world) can prevent a determined and well-planned terrorist act. A lot of the security processes are perfunctory.
 
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