A private plane flying was forced to make an emergency landing in the Free State town of Welkom on after the pilot discovered a deadly cobra that had slithered into the cockpit.
The light aircraft, a Beechcraft Baron 58, was carrying four passengers from Cape Town to Nelspruit when the pilot, Rudolph Erasmus, spotted the snake while flying at 11 000 feet on Monday.
He landed the plane safely in Welkom, about 140 kilometres northeast of provincial capital Bloemfontein.
According to Erasmus, he first felt a cold sensation on his back but did not immediately process what was happening.
“To be truly honest, it’s as if my brain did not register what was going on,” he told the BBC, adding he initially thought the cold feeling on his back was his water bottle.
“I felt this cool sensation, sort of, crawling up my shirt,” he said, thinking he may not have closed the bottle properly and water might have been dripping down his shirt.
“As I turned to the left and looked down I saw the cobra . . . receding its head backwards underneath the seat.”
Once he saw the cobra, he warned his four passengers they had a snake onboard and prepared for an emergency landing.
“You could hear a needle drop and I think everyone froze for a moment or two,” Erasmus said.
The African Snake Bite Institute says South Africa is home to seven species and one subspecies of cobras.
It is not clear which species forced Erasmus to make the emergency landing. – Staff Reporter