Two of the consumer news themes of this week have been terrible things happening to United Airlines passengers and live scorpions lurking where they shouldn’t. Why not bring these themes together? A man on a flight from Houston to Calgary over the weekend says that he was stung by a scorpion that fell out of an overhead bin onto his head.

The light-colored arachnid was about an inch and a half long, and the man told Canadian news agency Global News (warning: auto-play video at that link) that it landed on his head. He picked it up by the tail, setting it on a plate in front of him.

“‘That’s a scorpion. It’s dangerous!'” the man recalled a fellow passenger saying to him. That’s when the alleged scorpion stung the man, and he knocked it onto the floor. His seatmate stomped on it, and a crew member disposed of it.

“The airline threw it in the toilet,” the passenger told Global News, “which was the worst thing to do because everyone when we landed wanted to see it, to see if it was a [venomous] one.”

Scorpion species from North America generally don’t have life-threatening stings. They’re just very painful. However, no one knew whether the stowaway arachnid was a native of Houston.

Fortunately, the sting wasn’t life-threatening, and the flight crew were able to discuss the situation with a physician on the ground. Emergency medical services met the plane, and the man declined transport to a hospital.

He says he is concerned that United hasn’t contacted him, though.

(via NBC)

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