As if a certain airline doesn’t have enough on its plate, on the same day security personnel violently dragged a doctor off a plane to make room for employees, another united airlines passenger had a bad experience. It happened on a United Airlines flight out of Houston to Calgary, when a scorpion fell out of an overhead compartment and landed on a passenger's head, stinging him.
Richard Bell was flying home from a two-week vacation in Mexico with his wife, Linda, last Sunday when the incident happened on United Airlines Flight 1418. Bell recalled that it felt like a wasp sting at the time.
However, this wily little stowaway was certainly not a wasp and was probably hiding out in someone’s hand luggage, all the way from Mexico. When the scorpion fell from the overhead compartment it landed in Bell’s hair, stinging him, but he and his wife initially had no idea what it was. Linda told Global News that when she looked at the honey-colored critter, she thought it looked like a small lobster.
United Airlines passenger kills and flushes scorpion
Bell knocked the inch-and-a-half-long scorpion off him – basically brushing off the whole situation – until a fellow passenger on the United flight pointed out that the insect was dangerous. At that stage, another passenger reportedly stomped on the hapless stowaway and threw it into a toilet.
However, according to Bell, this was probably the worst thing they could have done, as when the flight landed everyone wanted to see the scorpion.
Emergency crews called to airport after man reportedly stung by scorpion on flight to Calgary https://t.co/yWG62P2ECH #ywg pic.twitter.com/C2PptqgrdF
— iNews880 (@iNews880) April 12, 2017
John Rogers, another passenger on the United Airlines flight, told Global News that after the pilot announced the incident, police, and firefighters had to board the plane in order to assess the situation.
Luckily for Bell, he reportedly did not show any signs of distress from the scorpion sting and said he didn't need any medical treatment.
Scorpion incident happened the same day as ‘that’ scandal
United Airlines is reportedly investigating the incident, which occurred on the same day as David Dao, a Kentucky doctor, was violently removed from one of their flights out of Chicago.
Dr. Dao now has the services of a lawyer who said on Thursday that Dao received several injuries after being dragged out of his seat, including the loss of two front teeth and a concussion. His lawyer now hopes that his client can become the “poster child” of United Airlines’ abuse of their passengers. As reported by the New York Post, last month United made headlines after they refused to allow two teenage girls to board a flight as they were wearing yoga pants.
