A flight in Spain managed to land safely after a pilot with an extreme allergy to spider venom was bitten by a tarantula mid-flight. The incident led to a delay in the following flight as the plane was fumigated to flush out the missing arachnid.
According to the Canarian Weekly , the pilot was immediately treated with an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid found in the plane's first aid kit to prevent a severe reaction to the bite and was later confirmed by the airline to be in stable condition. It's believed that the tarantula accessed the plane via luggage on a previous flight between Madrid and Casablanca, Morocco, which is apparently not an uncommon occurrence.
The exact species of the arachnid is also unclear; some crew members identified it as a tarantula, but it was never found to confirm. The plane was able to land safely in at the Madrid Airport and passengers were said to have disembarked without further incident, but the next flight from Madrid to Vigo experienced a three-hour delay while technicians scoured the plane for the spider. The aircraft was reportedly fumigated, following standard disinfection protocols to "flush out" or kill the offending creature.
Initially, travelers scheduled to embark on the next flight were told that the plane was undergoing maintenance checks, but eventually the real reason for the delay came out.
As such, passengers were said to appear "visibly uneasy," searching for any signs of spiders in their seats, belongings, and aisles, but no further incidents were reported. Three explosive devices were thrown against the wall of the Russian consulate in the French city of Marseille with two exploding, police said on Monday.
