Snake on a plane forces flight to be cancelled

An Emirates flight was cancelled at the weekend - after a snake was discovered on the plane, in a rare case of life imitating art.

Samuel L Jackson in Snakes on a Plane (snakes not pictured). Picture: Contributed

The flight from Muscat, in Oman, was scheduled to fly to Dubai but was postponed after the slithery stowaway was spotted in the cargo hold.

Passengers had not yet boarded the Boeing 777 plane when the snake was spotted.

No information was given about what type of snake was on board the plane.

A spokesperson for Emirates confirmed that the reptile had been captured and the aircraft was back in service.

Just last month, Samuel L Jackson - who starred in 2006 film Snakes on a Plane - was in Dubai to accept a lifetime achievement award at the Dubai International Film Festival.

It is not known if the two incidents are linked.