Cabin crew on the Virgin Australia flight quickly shut the cargo door, locking the reptile inside before calling for professional help. Snake catcher Mark Pelley, famously known as The Snake Hunter, was urgently called to the scene.

It turns out the snake was identified as a 60-centimeter (2-foot) green tree snake. These types of snakes are most common in Northern and Eastern Australia, but they have no venom and also have no fangs, so it was not a serious threat.