Tarantulas terrorize plane on nightmare flight to Montreal


Passengers on a flight from the Dominican Republic to Montreal, Canada, last month were in for a terrifying surprise when it was discovered that two tarantulas were loose in the cabin, CBC News reports.
It sounds like a horror movie plot but is in fact real life. Apparently the flight attendants on the Air Transat plane "did what they could to calm people down" (good luck with that!) as the eight-legged critters crawled about the cabin. The passengers, of course, did what any sane people would do in such a situation: stood on their seats and screamed.
And while the flight crew requested passengers put on their shoes and cover up their ankles, the warning came only after person claimed a tarantula had climbed up their leg. The individual was later given first aid.
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The arachnids ranged from about four inches to eight inches in size. Some suspect the spiders had been hidden in a passenger's luggage for resale, since live tarantulas can fetch a high price back in the United States and Canada.
The incident occurred back in April, but was only just anonymously reported to Radio-Canada and confirmed by the airline. The flight attendant union said there are no procedures in place to handle incidents of giant spiders on aircrafts.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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