(WSVN) - United Airlines just can’t catch a break, it seems. The troubled airline is back in the headlines, this time after a passenger was stung by a stowaway scorpion mid-flight.
Richard Bell and his wife Linda from Calgary, Canada, were flying home after vacationing in Mexico, Fox News reports. During the flight, Bell said he felt something land on his head.
“It fell in my hair. I grabbed it. I was hanging onto it by its tail,” said Bell in an interview with GlobalNews.ca.
A United spokesman said the scorpion most likely stowed away in a passenger’s carry-on luggage before falling on Bell from the overhead compartment.
Once a fellow passenger told Bell that the scorpion could be poisonous, Bell put it on a plate. But when he picked it up again, the scorpion stung him on his finger with a pain he said felt like a wasp sting.
Another passenger stomped on the scorpion to kill it, and United staff threw it in an airplane toilet.
Crew then contacted medical professionals on the ground for assistance. Emergency responders met the plane to treat Bell’s sting once they landed in Calgary.
The incident is just the latest in a string of bad press for the airline. Just days earlier, video of officers forcibly removing 69-year-old Dr. David Dao from a United Flight went viral, showing the man with a bloody face. The video sparked outrage toward the airline, which has released several statements apologizing for the incident.
Before that, United drew criticism for turning away two teenagers from a flight for wearing leggings. The airline said the girls were traveling on “buddy” passes, which comes with a more strict dress code that does not usually apply to paying ticket holders.
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