Movies coming to life is only fun if say, a mysterious, handsome French man sweeps you off your feet and buys you a yacht filled with cheese, but not when actual snakes show up on a plane you’re flying. An Australian man piloting a solo cargo flight was caught in just such a story coming to life recently, and unfortunately for him, Samuel L. Jackson was nowhere to be found to battle the critters.

The Associated Press (via the Chicago Sun-Times) says the man had to make a rather scary landing after a snake popped out from behind his dashboard and slithered (eww) across his leg.

While the pilot wasn’t sure if the snake was venomous or not, he was freaked out enough that his heart started to race as he tried to guide his plane back to the city of Darwin. He says the snake kept popping its head out from behind the instrument panel before finally making a dash across his leg during the approach to the airport.

“I’ve seen it on a movie once, but never in an airplane,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp., obviously referencing the one movie everyone is going to think of, Snakes On a Plane. In that fictional instance, the snakes were released on purpose to kill everyone, so this is a bit different.

He managed to calm himself down enough to safely land the plane, even while worried that the snake might take a chunk out of him. Once on the ground, a firefighter spotted the snake but no one was able to catch it. Maybe Samuel L. caught it when no one was looking — he always comes through!

Snake on a plane? Pilot turns back after snake pops out of dashboard [Chicago Sun-Times]

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