United Airlines helped to dominate the news last week, and it wasn't for good reasons. The entire world probably saw a clip of Dr. David Dao being dragged off of the airplane because he didn't give up his seat when requested so flight attendants could get to Louisville from Chicago. The clip was shown over and over again. People were disgusted because that could have happened to any Passenger on any airline.
Another United Airlines story
Another unfortunate incident happened on united airlines on the same day. On Sunday, a husband and wife from Canada were returning from their two-week vacation in Mexico when they encountered a scorpion on board their flight from Houston to Calgary.
Richard Bell and his wife, Linda, were in the business class section of the plane. While they were eating lunch, a scorpion fell into Richard's hair from an overhead compartment.
Linda told CNN that when her husband felt something landing on his head, he grabbed it by the tail. The scorpion fell on his lunch tray but not before the venomous creature had stung the passenger on his hand. According to Richard, it felt like a wasp sting.
Linda recalled that the inch-and-a-half-long scorpion was still alive when Richard pushed it off his tray. When it landed in the aisle, another passenger stomped on it. A flight attendant flushed the scorpion down the toilet. In the meantime, another passenger gave Richard a Benadryl pill just in case he had an allergic reaction.
United Airlines' statement
A statement from United Airlines acknowledged that a passenger had been stung by a scorpion. A MedLink physician was consulted on the ground immediately. The airline was advised that it was not a life-threatening situation. Medical personnel met the airplane when it arrived in Calgary to see if Richard needed medical attention.
Last Wednesday, the airline contacted the Bells and apologized for the incident. The airline also offered an undisclosed amount of compensation.
No one knows for sure how the creature got on the plane. Earlier during the day, the same airplane had flown to Houston from Costa Rica. The scorpion might have gotten on board there and was trying to accumulate some frequent flyer miles.
This is not the first time a scorpion has stung a passenger on an airplane. Back in 2015, a woman reportedly was stung on her flight from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon. However, that airline was not United. It was an Alaska Airlines flight that was in the news that time.
