Snake stows away on plane

An unusual passenger was found on an Air New Zealand flight from Australia to Auckland last night, with a snake joining passengers in economy class.

Air New Zealand spokesman Mark Street said the flight was about an hour out of Brisbane when the stowaway was discovered.

"A passenger found a green snake -- which I believe is non-venomous -- on one of the seats toward the rear of the aircraft, in the economy section," he said.

"Our in-flight service director collected the snake, put it into a bag and into a fridge and it was collected by MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) off the plane at the end of the flight."

The Ministry would now formally identify the snake, thought to be a non-venomous green tree snake, about 50 centimetres long.

"They will now do an investigation identifying what it is and potentially where it came from, if it was carried on by a passenger or what the situation was," Mr Street said.

The airline would also carry out a full investigation.

- NZPA