Scorpions on a plane: Another sting in the tail for United as man stung on business flight
United Airlines is in hot water for the second time this week after a Canadian man claims a scorpion dropped on his head and later stung him during the flight.
The Calgary business class passenger said he’s looking for some kind of compensation from the airline after it stung him while he was enjoying lunch.
“While I was eating, something fell in my hair from the overhead above me,” Richard Bell told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
“I picked it up and it was a scorpion. I was holding it out by the tail so it couldn’t really sting me then.
“So I dropped it on my plate and then I went to pick it up again, and that’s when it stung me – it got my nail mostly.”
Another passenger on the flight from Houston to Calgary warned Mr Bell that the eight-legged creature was a scorpion and could be dangerous.
Mr Bell’s wife Linda described the scorpion as a “little lobster”.
As he reeled from what felt like a wasp sting, he flicked the scorpion on the floor. A flight attendant acted quickly to cover it with a cup.
“Then we got out of our seats and stepped on it. And then the flight attendants threw it in the restroom,” he said.
Mr Bell said the airline staff were quick to make calls about how dangerous the scorpion could be.
A nurse who happened to be on board gave him some of the painkiller Demerol as a precaution.
Border services agents entered the plane when it landed, anxious to inspect the scorpion, which had already been flushed.
Mr Bell was taken to hospital and told he would be fine, he said.
Mr Bell said he believes he should be compensated for his ordeal, possibly with some travel credit.
However, since there was no real harm done, he has no plans for a lawsuit.
"It's just one of those things that happens, right," he said.
He said he suspects the scorpion was hiding in a guitar belonging to some travellers who had just returned from Guatemala or Honduras.
