A scorpion onboard a United Airlines flight to Atlanta stung a woman multiple times before being captured by flight attendants.
The incident occurred onboard UA1554 from San Francisco to Atlanta last Thursday morning. A woman reported that while in the air she felt a stinging sensation on her leg. Upon entering the lavatory to investigate, the pain only intensified. As she pulled off her pants, a scorpion dropped down.
The scorpion scurried out of the lavatory and down an aisle. A flight attendant caught the bandit in an empty tapas snackbox (could this be the reason the tapas snackboxes disappeared for awhile?… 😉 ). After speaking to a physician on the ground and the passenger, the flight crew determined the flight could continue to Atlanta.
Upon landing in Atlanta, the passenger was treated and will be just fine.
A United spokesperson confirmed the incident:
“After learning that one of our customers on flight 1554 from San Francisco to Atlanta was stung during flight, our crew responded immediately and consulted with a MedLink physician on the ground who provided medical guidance. Upon landing in Atlanta, the flight was met by medical personnel and the customer was transported to a local hospital. We have been in contact with our customer to ensure her wellbeing.”
The source of the scorpion is not clear. Although wet and cool, San Francisco does have scorpions. The aircraft came from Pittsburgh. In past incidents, passengers usually inadvertently brought scorpions onboard in hand baggage. Perhaps the woman herself brought the scorpion onboard.
You can see a picture of the actual scorpion here.
CONCLUSION
I’ll be flying out of SFO this week and keep an eye out for another one onboard my flight! This is the first reported scorpion incident on United since 2017, when a man was stung on a flight from Houston to Calgary.
No word if the scorpion is suing United for being forcibly removed from the flight…
This is like the 4th time in three years this happened on a flight. Seems very odd that a Scorpion would end up on a plane.
Not to lean towards always assuming something nefarious but it still leads one to wonder. A hotel I kind of get it, especially in places like Mexico or the SW. Would be interesting to know the fight history of these aircraft and if they had recently been in Mexico, Tucson, or Phoenix where Scorpions are far more common and often found in hotel rooms. If not I lean towards this somehow being an employee or a passenger being involved.
I’m not a doctor, but I think it’s crazy that the flight didn’t divert so the woman could receive immediate medical attention. Some people can respond very badly to scorpion bites and time is of the essence. Regardless, I’m glad the woman is okay and I hope United will be paying any medical bills/cost-sharing not covered by her health insurance.