The incident took place on a flight bound for Tawau from Kuala Lumpur. It caused the pilot to make a decision to divert the plane to Kuching instead.

A video showing the silhouette of a snake has been making the rounds on social media since this morning.

In a statement, AirAsia chief safety officer Liong Tien Ling confirmed the incident but said no one was hurt.

Liong said that as soon as the pilot was made aware of the incident, he made the decision to divert the aircraft to Kuching as a precautionary measure to catch the snake and fumigate the aircraft.

“This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time.

“The captain took the appropriate action and the flight will depart for Tawau as soon as possible.

“The safety and well-being of our guests and crew is always our top priority. At no time was the safety of guests or crew at any risk.”

It is learned that AirAsia ground staff were still searching for the snake on the plane in Kuching.

An AirAsia spokersman told FMT that the affected passengers took another flight to get to Tawau.

Netizens took to social media to voice their amazement over the whole episode.

Nurhasyimah Balqis was perplexed at how the snake made it into the aircraft in the first place.

Emylia Lien Sundang was just as surprised. “I am reminded of the movie Snakes on a plane,” she said, referring to the Hollywood flick starring Samuel L Jackson as a federal agent stuck with loads of venomous snakes on a flight full of passengers.

“Seriously? So scary,” Siti Nur Fatihah said.

Zawawi Xii, on the other hand,poked fun at the episode. “The airfare from KL to Tawau is expensive, so it instead snuck into the light compartment.”