A mysterious snake found in the luggage compartment of a plane forced authorities to cancel one flight and delay another at the Baiyun International Airport on Tuesday.

An airport worker surnamed Huang saw the black-and-white snake lying on a trunk when he opened the luggage cabin of the plane, which arrived from Mianyang City of Sichuan Province at noon.

All people aboard the plane were immediately evacuated and airport workers, security staff and technicians were summoned to catch the reptile.

The plane had been scheduled to take some 100 passengers to Shanghai with flight No. 1838. The airline canceled the flight and arranged a Boeing 747 from Beijing to carry them to Shanghai at about 5 PM.

Passengers were irritated by the delay. Some passengers rushed to another boarding gate trying to force their way onto Flight 5310, also to Shanghai, resulting in a big fight between passengers of the two flights. Some airline and airport workers were slightly injured.

The passengers calmed down after airline authorities promised to compensate them 200 yuan (US$24) each. Flight 5310 was delayed for about two hours because of the fight.

A Boeing 747 took Flight 1838 passengers to Shanghai at about 5 PM.

The snake involved was caught in half an hour and found to be nonpoisonous. No one could tell where it came from.

Frightened airport workers used a bamboo stick to search for more snakes but found none. The plane was grounded for 24 hours for a thorough checkup.

Security officers and airway company are investigating the cause of the incident.

(Shenzhen Daily August 26, 2005)