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Flight cancelled after passenger sees tarantula
British Airways was forced to cancel a domestic flight after a passenger told cabin crew he had seen a tarantula spider crawling between his legs.
The male passenger, who has not been named, raised the alarm on-board an Airbus A319 that had arrived at Edinburgh from Heathrow.
The alert led to the aircraft being grounded while a specialist was flown in to fumigate the cabin, forcing the airline to cancel at least one subsequent flight.
None of the other 82 passengers on the flight reported seeing the creature, which was never found, according to a report in The Scotsman.
Tarantulas have hairy legs and bodies and grow up to 1ft long, but move more slowly than common house spiders.
A specialist firm was flown in from Gatwick to fumigate the plane by spraying insecticide inside the aircraft cabin while engineers checked other areas of the aircraft, but to no avail.
A spokesman for the airline said: "A male passenger claimed he had seen what he believed to be a tarantula on board the aircraft. He saw it walking between his legs.
"On arrival, he drew this to the attention of the cabin crew. He did not give the impression of being particularly upset.
"A specialist team was sent to fumigate the aircraft."
He added: "There is the odd spider that comes in cargo such as fruit, but it is very unusual to have such a report on a UK flight."
Experts said tarantulas were not habitual stowaways and preferred burrows, whereas house spiders were more likely to hide in clothes folded in a suitcase.
Matt Shardlow, chief executive of the charity Buglife, said: "If it was a tarantula, why did no one else see it? Although they are quite large spiders, there are some very large house spiders, too."