Woman Stung by Scorpion on Alaska Airlines Flight
Alaska Airline officials "don't know exactly where" the animal came from.
— -- A woman was stung by a scorpion while on a plane waiting to take off from Los Angeles International Airport, an airline spokesman said today.
Alaska Airlines Flight 567, bound for Portland, Oregon, was taxi-ing for takeoff Saturday night when the woman was stung on the hand, Alaska Airlines spokesman Cole Cosgrove told ABC News today.
"We don't know exactly how the scorpion made it on the plane," Cosgrove said, but added that the flight originated in Los Cabos, Mexico.
The plane then went back to the gate, where the woman was checked by medics and released, Cosgrove said.
"When the flight was at the gate as medics were checking out the customer, some maintenance employees came on the plane to do a look through the cabin to make sure there were no other scorpions," Cosgrove said.
According to Cosgrove, flight attendants killed the scorpion, but he said he didn't know how.
The plane took off for Portland after about a 50-minute delay, though the stung woman did not get back on the flight.
"I don't know what our customer service folks will do, but I'll imagine we'll reach out to the customer and do our best to take care of her," Cosgrove said.
After the flight arrived in Portland, an exterminator "checked through the plane thoroughly," he said.