A Delta Air Lines flight from Baltimore to Atlanta was delayed about three hours when one passenger didn’t have a boarding pass.
A tarantula.
No one in the airplane cabin saw the eight-legged crawler aboard Flight 1525 Wednesday night. But baggage handlers on the ground did, a Delta spokesman said. The baboon tarantula was out of its carrier, and the flight’s captain ordered the plane to remain in Baltimore to be searched overnight.
“Flight crew made the decision to fly to Atlanta on another aircraft out of an abundance of caution and the Captain explained the situation to our customers,” Morgan Durrant, spokesman for Delta Air Lines, said in an emailed statement.
Baboon tarantulas hail from Africa and are burnt orange in color and have fangs, according to animal-world.com. The species is aggressive and defensive, and their bites can be serious for humans.
Passengers were put on another flight and arrived in Atlanta a little later than planned. No other spiders were found on the plane.
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