Tarantula escapes, clears out plane

The plane for Baltimore eventually left at 10 p.m. The flight had a 3 hour delay, but pilots were glad no one was injured or hurt.

The passengers were put on another plane that took off three hours later.

The Delta flight from Baltimore to Atlanta had to be delayed after a tarantula escaped on board on Thursday. Baggage handlers were unloading the MD-88 aircraft before turning the aircraft for departure to Atlanta when it was spotted. Durrant added that the spider came from a cargo shipment of insects that was breached, reports CNN.

The final decision on cancelling the flight and switching over to a new plane was actually made by the crew, who apparently didn’t hesitate.

Of course, when it comes to traveling, it’s never any fun to have spiders, snakes or even cats in the passenger cabins.

They would not say how many tarantulas were found, but another passenger claims the captain said 750 rare African tarantulas were found.

Concerns were raised the spider might not be alone, prompting an intense search of the entire aircraft – as well as a call to the spider’s handler to ensure it had been travelling alone. At 6 p.m., crew started to unload passenger cargo and “noticed a tarantula was on the loose”. The pain of the bite is comparable to a bee sting, the library website says.