Newark airport authorities remove snake from a plane, but it escapes
January 14, 2013|By Scott Malone, Of The Morning Call
NEWARK — It took a couple of hours but the Newark airport’s snake removal operation ended Friday.
But it took much longer for the snake to escape.
The reptile was pulled from the belly of an arriving Delta airplane. One Delta employee has since identified the snake as a black racer snake.
Airport officials have not determined if the snake was loose in the airplane’s cargo hold, or if it escaped during the baggage process from the Delta’s hold.
After the snake was removed from the plane, a Delta employee called New Jersey State Police, who sent a trooper to the scene, according to a New Jersey State Police Officer.
Newark police said the snake, which weighs 6 pounds, had been restrained by a belt. It was released to a local vet where it was euthanized, according to New Jersey State Police.
At the same time, a Delta employee called New Jersey State Police and reported a snake in the plane’s cargo hold, a spokesman for the state police said.
Newark airport authorities had not received a report about the snake on the flight, the spokesman said.
“It was out of control and caused a lot of concern and it got on the plane,” said New Jersey State Police Commissioner Joseph F.sf.Stern.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said he is outraged about the snake’s escape. He called it “a horrible, horrible mistake.”
“My staff saw it, and I am calling for an investigation,” Baraka said.
Baraka said he will ask New Jersey State Police to “conduct a thorough investigation.”
The snake’s escape came less than a week before the city hosts the Super Bowl. Delta Airlines will be flying a Super Bowl commercial over Newark.
The snake was one of at least four snakes found in Newark this week, according to authorities.
At least one more snake, a black racer, has also been discovered in Newark.
Snake found on Newark flight
Newark airport officials have said they found at least two snakes in Newark this week.
A snake was discovered on an incoming flight to Newark earlier this week. Two months earlier, a snake was found on an outgoing flight. No reports of snake were made at either airport.
A snake was also