Scorpion stings woman on us flight

"Snakes on a plane" may have enjoyed a brief bout of popularity as a phrase, thanks to the movie in 2006, but one flight in the US this week found itself dealing with something potentially far more dangerous: a scorpion on a plane.

The arachnid stung a female on Alaska Airlines Flight 567, just as the plane was taxiing on the runway in preparation for take-off. The flight, which was scheduled to travel from Los Angeles to Portland, was brought to a halt when a passenger spotted the creature on the shoulder of a man.

"Guy saw scorpion on his shoulder flicked it off and it landed on lady and stung her. Chivalry is dead," tweeted Tyson Alger of The Oregonian.

The scorpion then landed on a female passenger and stung her on the hand.

"The woman was a real champ," Wayne Tinkle, the coach of Oregon State University's men's basketball team, who was on the flight, told Sky News.

"Now this is a scary first..A woman has been stung by a scorpion on our plane while we were on the tarmac...now heading back to the gate," tweeted fellow passenger Mike Parker.

"She acted like it was a mosquito bite. They got it off her, but the needle was stuck," commented Tinkle.

"Coach Tinkle was just two rows behind the woman that was stung," added Parker.

It is thought that the scorpion boarded the plane unbeknownst to passengers, as the flight originated in Los Cabos, Mexico, where the arachnids are common.

Photo: @MEPOSU