A giant centipede crawled up the leg of a first class passenger on a flight from Apia to Auckland, it has been revealed.
The 10cm centipede caused alarm when it got loose in the cabin, a Ministry of Primary Industries spokesman said.
"The passenger apparently brushed off the centipede, which scuttled off, causing some commotion in the cabin," says Craig Hughes, MPI's Northern Border Clearance Manager, said.
"By the size of its claws, it would have at least caused a nasty nip."
Mr Hughes said it was likely a passenger accidentally carried the centipede onto the plane in their hand luggage.
Biosecurity staff were waiting to meet the plane on arrival. Once passengers had disembarked, quarantine inspectors checked the plane and found the centipede between a seat and the cabin wall. The centipede has since been destroyed.
"The last thing that anyone wants is a new population of poisonous centipedes, or worse, crawling around Auckland."
