Sometimes reality outdoes Hollywood fiction. A green tree snake turned stowaway on Virgin Australia Flight VA337, transforming what should have been a routine Brisbane departure into a two-hour airport drama that would make Samuel L. Jackson proud.
• A harmless 2-foot green tree snake was discovered in the cargo hold of a Virgin Australia Boeing 737 at Melbourne Airport
• Professional snake catcher Mark Pelley successfully captured the reptile on his first attempt, preventing a full aircraft evacuation
• The snake likely escaped from passenger luggage during an earlier Brisbane to Melbourne flight and cannot be returned to the wild due to quarantine regulations
Picture this: passengers board their flight, ready for takeoff, when airline staff spot something slithering in the cargo hold. While the 2006 movie “Snakes on a Plane” featured Samuel L. Jackson battling deadly serpents at 30,000 feet, this real-world version played out much differently on the ground at Melbourne Airport.
The green tree snake measuring just 60 centimeters created quite the commotion when Virgin Australia Flight VA337 crew members discovered it during pre-flight preparations on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. What followed was a tense rescue operation that delayed the Brisbane-bound flight for approximately two hours.
Mark Pelley, known professionally as “The Snake Hunter,” received the call to action. Racing to Melbourne Airport, he faced his own obstacles, spending 30 minutes driving there before encountering security delays. Time was ticking, and passengers were waiting.
High-Stakes Snake Capture
When Pelley finally reached the aircraft, he found the snake half-hidden behind a panel in the darkened cargo hold. The situation was precarious. Australia hosts many of the world’s most venomous snakes, and in the dim lighting, Pelley couldn’t immediately identify the species.
“It wasn’t until after I caught the snake that I realized that it wasn’t venomous. Until that point, it looked very dangerous to me,” Pelley explained to reporters. The stakes were clear: one shot to capture the reptile, or face evacuating the entire aircraft and dismantling a Boeing 737 piece by piece.
Fortunately, Pelley’s expertise paid off. He successfully captured the snake on his first attempt, preventing what could have been a much longer and more expensive ordeal for Virgin Australia and its passengers.
The mystery of how the snake boarded the aircraft points to an accidental stowaway situation. Pelley suspects the green tree snake, native to the Brisbane region, escaped from someone’s luggage during the earlier flight from Brisbane to Melbourne. Green tree snakes thrive in warm brush and shrubs, feeding on frogs, lizards, small birds, and eggs according to Lamar University’s Department of Biology.
Not the First Serpentine Flight Incident
This incident joins a growing collection of snake-related aviation stories from Australia and beyond. In 2013, Qantas passengers watched in amazement as a large python clung to their plane’s wing during a two-hour flight from Cairns to Papua New Guinea. The snake somehow survived the journey at altitude.
International incidents have occurred too. A 2022 United Airlines flight from Tampa Bay to Newark discovered a non-venomous snake aboard, while an AirAsia flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing after a snake appeared slithering through overhead lights.
Due to quarantine regulations, this particular green tree snake cannot return to its natural habitat. Instead, the protected species has been placed with a Melbourne veterinarian who will help find it a home with a licensed snake keeper.
The incident serves as a reminder that air travel can present unexpected challenges. While Hollywood gave us fictional snake mayhem with “Snakes on a Plane,” real-world snake encounters typically end much more peacefully thanks to professional wildlife handlers like Pelley.
Virgin Australia resumed normal operations after the delay, and passengers eventually reached Brisbane safely. The airline staff handled the situation professionally, following proper protocols when wildlife appears aboard aircraft.
For Pelley, this marked his first snake-on-plane experience, despite numerous previous snake removals at airports. He continues his work removing snakes from various locations across Australia, from car dashboards to office walls, making this aviation adventure just another day at the office.
