Pilot makes emergency landing after Cape cobra slithers onto him in midair

Pilot Rudolf Erasmus was on his way to Nelspruit in a Beechraft Baron with four passengers on Monday when he had to make an emergency landing — to drop off an unwelcome passenger, a highly venomous Cape cobra.

Erasmus, who obtained his commercial license in 2016 told TimesLIVE it was definitely his first such experience.

“This was definitely a first and not something you get trained to handle to be honest,” he said.

Together with four passengers, Erasmus was scheduled to fly Monday morning from Worcester in the Western Cape to Nelspruit, with few stops on the way.

The first stop was Bloemfontein and the second Wonderboom.

“When we did the preflight [procedure] on Monday morning, the people at Worcester airfield told us they had seen a Cape cobra lying underneath the wing on Sunday afternoon. They tried to catch it themselves but unfortunately it sought refuge inside the engine cowlings.” The group opened the cowlings but the snake was not there so they assumed it had slithered away.