On February 10, 2022, Air Asia Flight AK5748, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau, was forced to make a safety landing in Kuching for an unusual reason: a snake was spotted in the passenger compartment behind a lighting device.

It is not entirely clear how the reptile got on board. It is possible that the animal crawled unnoticed into the Airbus A320 9M-RAN at an airport, but it cannot be ruled out that a passenger had the animal in their hand luggage and it escaped. Regardless, the snake began to scout the plane, and then was visible from behind the passenger lighting cover.

For safety reasons, the captain decided to cancel the flight to Tawau and land in Kuching. The passengers were able to disembark the plane without any problems. Experts were then requested to remove the possibly still young snake alive from the plane.

“This is a very rare incident that can happen on any aircraft from time to time. The captain has taken the appropriate measures and the flight will depart for Tawau as soon as possible. The safety and well-being of our guests and crew is always our top priority. At no point was the safety of guests or crew at risk,” said Liong Tien Ling, Air Asia's captain and chief safety officer.

Incidentally, the little snake was successfully freed from the plane and is said to be in the best of health. The 9M-RAN was put back into service after a thorough check by technicians.