Snake on Board

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Monty Coles was 3,000 feet in the air when he discovered a stowaway peeking out at him from the plane's instrument panel: a 4 1/2-foot snake.Coles was taking a leisurely flight over the West Virginia countryside in his Piper Cherokee last weekend and was preparing to land in Ohio when the snake revealed itself.
"Nothing in any of the manuals ever described anything like this," said the 62-year-old Cross Lanes resident.But advice given 25 years earlier from his flight instructor sprung to mind: "No matter what happens, fly the plane."Coles attempted to swat the snake but it fell to the pilot's feet, then darted to the other side of the cockpit.While maintaining control of the single-engine plane with one hand, Coles grabbed the reptile behind its head with his other."There was no way I was letting that thing go," he said. "It coiled all around my arm, and its tail grabbed hold of a lever on the floor and started pulling."The next step was to radio for emergency landing clearance."They came back and asked what my problem was," he said. "I told them I had one hand full of snake and the other hand full of plane. They cleared me in."After a smooth landing, Coles posed for pictures with the snake, then let it loose."That snake resides in Ohio now," he said.A service of the Associated Press(AP)