Snake on a plane forces Aussie pilot to make emergency landing

DARWIN, Australia – If only Samuel L. Jackson had been on board.

An Australian pilot was forced to deal with his own "Snakes on a Plane" drama after one of the slithering reptiles crawled out of the cockpit dashboard in mid-flight.

Air Frontier pilot Braden Blennerhassett was 20 minutes into a flight from Darwin to the remote community of Peppimenarti in far northern Australia on Tuesday to drop off cargo when the snake suddenly appeared.

If that was not enough, the reptile was chasing a tree frog that had also stowed away underneath the front passenger seat of the small plane, the Northern Territory News reported.

Blennerhassett made a mayday call and returned safely to Darwin.

"I have heard of crocodiles being loose in planes but not snakes," Air Frontier director Geoffrey Hunt told Australia's national broadcaster, the ABC.

Snake catchers were called in but the reptile has not been found. Hunt said the aircraft remains grounded and he hopes the plane will not have to be pulled apart to find it.

"Until we find the snake, it's not good for business," he said.

Hollywood star Jackson starred in the cult 2006 action thriller "Snakes on a Plane," where he played an FBI agent forced to take on a plane full of poisonous snakes.