24 February 2025 , 09:10
481
0
A pilot had a memorable flight between Germany and Spain when he was bitten by a tarantula while in the cockpit.
The mid-air drama occurred on Friday afternoon on an Iberia Airbus A320 flying between Dusseldorf in Germany and Madrid’s Barajas Airport.
The plane’s journey was delayed so it could be fumigated and the pilot, who is allergic to spiders, was treated with anti-inflammatory medicine.
The spider is thought to have got onto the plane during a stopover in the Moroccan city of Casablanca earlier in the week.
After the onboard drama, passengers waited for hours to reboard the plane before it left for Vigo.
Iberia Airlines said the pilot is ‘doing fine’ after receiving treatment in Madrid. After leaving Casablanca to return to Madrid on Tuesday, the plane touched down in other cities including Brussels, Zurich and Toulouse.
Newspaper La Voz de Galicia said some passengers still checked their surroundings for fear other spiders had got onto the plane, even after fumigation.
Last November a plane was grounded for five days after more than 130 hamsters in the hold managed to escape their cages as maintenance workers tried to round up the power-eating rodents.
Maintenance workers had frantically tried to round up the rodents since Tuesday before they chewed through the plane’s wiring.
Baggage handlers found that the hamster cages had been damaged and that more than 100 were roaming around the cargo hold when the Airbus 320 touched down in the Azores archipelago capital Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel Island.
The rodents’ front teeth, said to be harder than lead, aluminium, iron and copper, have to be continually worn down and kept sharp which is why they are constantly gnawing.
In happier travel news, train passengers from Surrey to London were excited to see a four-legged friend hitching a ride to the big city.
An adventurous cat had to be collected by her owner after hopping on a train and travelling over 17 miles from Surrey to central London.
Michael Hardy, 52, from Weybridge had to travel to Waterloo Station in London after Tilly managed to catch a train into the capital.
The two-year-old black and white cat has become a bit of a celebrity in her hometown as she spends her days meandering through local pubs and schools.
She’s previously caught buses and Ubers, but the 17-mile adventure to London is the furthest she’s managed to travel.