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Canadian passenger ‘stung by scorpion’ on United Airlines flight
The scorpion fell on the passenger’s head from the overhead bin. The incident occurred on the same day a passenger on a different flight of the same airliner was violently dragged off board.
A Canadian national said he was stung by a scorpion on a United Airlines flight.
Richard Bell, flying from Houston, Texas to Calgary, Canada, said the scorpion fell on his head from the overhead bin. It then stung him under the fingernail.
“My husband felt something in his hair. He grabbed it out of his hair and it fell onto his dinner table. As he was grabbing it by the tail it stung him,” Bell’s wife Linda told CNN.
Bell then brushed the arachnid on the floor, where it was captured by flight attendants. According to the Washington Post, the scorpion was later euthanized in the plane’s toilet.
When the plane landed in Calgary, Bell was taken to a hospital, and later released after being cleared of any medical issue. CBC said United Airlines has offered the couple flying credit as compensation.
The incident occurred on Sunday — the same day a passenger on a different flight of the same airliner was violently dragged from the plane after refusing to give his seat to a staff member. In widely distributed mobile phone video, Dr David Dao can be seen being pulled from his seat and dragged away by airport police officers, his face bloodied.
His lawyer indicated he will be filing a lawsuit on Dao’s behalf, adding that airlines — and United in particular — have long “bullied” passengers by overbooking flights and then bumping customers.
