An EasyJet flight traveling from Paris to Glasgow, Scotland was delayed overnight Monday after a passenger spotted a scorpion in the cabin.
According to the BBC, a passenger on the initial flight from Glasgow to Paris alerted crew members to the arachnid, prompting a lengthy delay for the return flight to Scotland.
The airline confirmed that the plane had to be fumigated at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Affected passengers were offered overnight accommodations in local hotels.
"EasyJet can confirm that a passenger reported to crew that a scorpion was on board flight EZY6883 from Glasgow to Paris Charles de Gaulle," a spokesman for the airline told the BBC. "The safety and comfort of our passengers and crew is always our highest priority so, as a precaution, the aircraft will be fumigated before its next flight, EZY6884 to Glasgow, which is delayed overnight as a result."
"Although this is outside of our control, we would like to apologize for any inconvenience to passengers."
Passenger Graham Mckinnon told The Guardian that there was a lot of confusion as to what caused the delay.
"[I] overheard someone at the desk ask what was happening and they were told the plane was needing a clean," Mckinnon said. "Then heard it was a broken chair before the app released a picture stating it was, in fact, a scorpion that had been found."
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Monday's incident comes just months after several scorpion spottings and stings aboard commercial flights. A stowaway scorpion stung a man on a Chicago-bound AeroMexico flight in June, one month after a United Airlines passenger reported seeing a scorpion emerge from his clothing at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
While unpleasant, scorpions pose little threat to airline passengers. The Mayo Clinic reports that scorpion stings are extremely rare and hardly ever require treatment.
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