Cobra in the cockpit

[redrider90]

For all you pilots on the list as well as anybody else that appreciates good piloting skills under duress.

South Africa snake on plane: Deadly cobra in cockpit forces emergency landing

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65188013

[Gliderjohn]

Back when I was student pilot it was early in the season and two of our club instructors took one of our gliders up for it's first flight of the year. After a few minutes of flight as we were watching the glider it started flying a bit erratic and losing altitude quickly. We were concerned something mechanically had gone wrong. They made a good landing however and before the glider stopped rolling the canopy came open and both came out of the cockpit like on ejection seats. Snake in the cockpit. Being KS it wasn't a cobra but...They said that if they had had chutes the club would have lost a glider that day.
GliderJohn

[cloudbase]

That happened at our glider club as well, but during an instructional flight.  Non-poisonous snake, but it still gets your attention.

[Gliderjohn]

Good instruction concerning dealing with the unexpected  . Part of our airfield has the KS LEO training center and they have a driving training area. Was working a thermal coming off the airfield on a tough day when I was above the training center practicing suspected felon take down stops. Was very tempted to land in the middle of to give them live training for the unexpected but then thought better of it.
GliderJohn

[wavedog]

There have been chickens in the cockpit (flight deck) of my C-47 when I was flying in Mexico. Some rogue iguanas tried to board in the Yucatán. No snakes thankfully.