United Airlines strikes again.
Somehow, on the same day they were dragging Dr. David Dao off a flight in Chicago, a passenger seated on board Flight 1418 from Houston, Texas to Calgary in Canada was attacked from above by a scorpion.
As the BBC reports:
Mr Bell, who was travelling with his wife, Linda, told CBC: “While I was eating, something fell in my hair from the overhead above me.
“I picked it up, and it was a scorpion. And I was holding it out by the tail, so it couldn’t really sting me then.”
A fellow passenger, he said, warned him that the creature was a scorpion and could be dangerous.
“So I dropped it on my plate and then I went to pick it up again, and that’s when it stung me. It got my nail, mostly,” he said
Mr Bell flicked the scorpion on to the floor and a flight attendant covered it with a cup before throwing it away in the bathroom.
A nurse who happened to be on board gave him a painkiller as a precaution, he said.
In a statement to the media, United said, “Our crew immediately consulted with a MedLink physician on the ground who provided guidance throughout the incident and assured our crew that it was not a life-threatening matter. Medical personnel met the aircraft after it arrived in Calgary.”
Bell was taken to a hospital where doctors cleared him of any medical issues.
For their troubles, the airline offered Bell and his wife an apology and a voucher for their next flight.
Crews then checked the airplane for a possible infestation as a precaution.
Mr. Bell told reporters he has no plans to file a lawsuit.
The scorpion was reprimanded and is now on leave from the company without pay.
