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Scorpions on a Plane!

By Olivia Leigh in Miscellaneous on Jan 11, 2007 7:10PM

Where's Samuel L. Jackson when you need him?

2007_01_scorpions.jpgWhen traveling from Chicago to Vermont, on a United Airlines flight earlier this week, passenger David Sullivan got a bit more than he bargained for. Before landing in Vermont, Sullivan noticed a strange feeling in his right leg that felt like it was asleep in an isolated spot and also felt “like it was being jabbed with a sharp piece of plastic or something.” While waiting for his checked luggage on the ground, he felt another strange feeling in his leg, lifted up his pants cuff, and a two-inch scorpion fell on the ground.

Yes, a scorpion.

After being checked out at a hospital, Sullivan seemed to be fine, and was taking the experience incredibly well, saying he had traveled through tropical climates and knew about “the risks from insects and animals and microorganisms.” Yesterday, United apologized to Sullivan, refunded his ticket, offered to pay for medical bills, and gave him a $500 voucher. United also said the plane Sullivan first traveled to Chicago from Houston, where the scorpion mostly liked climbed aboard.

While we’d like to think we could be as calm as Sullivan seems to have been, we imagine our response might be something of outrage, crying, screaming and seeing our life flash before our eyes.

Sullivan’s wife remarked that “the airlines tell you you can't bring water or shampoo on a plane,” but all the security didn’t seem to apply to the arachnid. Indeed, we can’t help but think that maybe airlines should be a bit less concerned about a woman brining along a tube of mascara that’s not in a clear bag, and a little less more concerned with being sure frightening, potentially dangerous creepy crawlies are off the plane.