Scorpion On Board
Madrid Flight From Costa
Rica
A passenger on an Iberia
flight from Costa Rica
to Madrid is recovering
at home after being
stung by a scorpion just
as the aircraft was
coming in to land at
Barajas Airport on
Sunday morning.
He was stung twice – in
the shoulder and a
finger - and was
fortunate enough to be
immediately treated by a
doctor who happened to
be on board. He received
additional treatment and
medication from Barajas
airport medical services
and was allowed to go
home.
The arthropod was found
dead shortly after the
incident, and was handed
to the Civil Guard
nature protection
branch, Seprona, for
study.
They recommended that
Iberia disinfect the
aircraft.
It is believed the
scorpion escaped after
being brought on board
by another passenger.
Despite the apparent
oddity of the incident,
scorpions and flying
seem to mix more often
than one might think. I
n 2005, a man was bitten
by a scorpion while
checking in for a flight
in New Zealand –- a
country not known to be
home to any venomous
insects or snakes, AP
reports. And in the USA,
there were two reports
of scorpions on planes
during a single week
this past January.
In one incident, a man
flying from San
Francisco to Burlington,
Vt., was stung twice by
a scorpion on his
connecting United flight
between Chicago O'Hare
and Vermont, according
to AP.
That same week, the
Toronto Star says a man
on an American Airlines
flight from Miami to
Toronto flight was stung
by a scorpion that
"apparently got through
security in Costa Rica
in the man's carry-on
knapsack." |
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