Treated with medication Spider bites pilot of a passenger plane in the cockpit
High above the clouds, even the smallest incident can cause a stir - especially when a biting spider is involved.
25.02.2025, 23:06
25.02.2025, 23:11
dpa
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- On a flight from Düsseldorf to Madrid, the pilot of a passenger plane was bitten by a spider.
- As a precaution, he was treated with a drug in the cockpit. The man was fine.
- It is unclear which species of spider bit the pilot. The spider was not found.
A scary incident at high altitude: the pilot of an Iberia plane was bitten by a spider on a flight from Düsseldorf to Madrid. He was treated with medication in the cockpit. The Spanish airline Iberia confirmed the incident after the newspaper "La Vanguardia" had previously reported on it.
The crew immediately administered the drug Urbason to the pilot as a precautionary measure, Iberia told the German Press Agency on request. The employee is doing well. He landed the plane safely and without any problems and "continued his work the next day as if nothing had happened".
Reports that the pilot was allergic to spider bites could not be confirmed at first. Contrary to the report by "La Vanguardia" and other media, which mentioned a tarantula, Iberia emphasized that it was not known for certain which species of spider had bitten the pilot on Saturday. The animal had not been found.
How and when did the uninvited guest get on the plane?
"The plane was disinfected immediately after arriving in Madrid and then continued its scheduled flights. The only consequence was that one flight to Vigo was delayed due to the disinfection," it said. The passengers were unaware of the unusual but harmless incident.
According to "La Vanguardia", it was suspected that the spider may have entered the plane during a stopover in Casablanca, Morocco, on Tuesday a week ago. There has been no official confirmation of this.
