Watch: Australian flight delayed by snake on a plane

July 7 (UPI) -- A flight from Australia's Melbourne Airport was delayed for more than an hour due to a stowaway in the cargo hold: a snake.

Virgin Australia Flight VA337 was delayed just prior to departing for Brisbane when airline personnel spotted a small snake in the cargo hold.

Mark Pelley, aka The Snake Hunter on social media, was summoned to the airport to capture what turned out to be a harmless green tree snake.

Pelley said he has removed snakes from the airport before, but this incident marked his first instance of a snake on a plane.

The snake catcher said he suspects the snake had stowed away in a traveler's luggage.

"Someone has inadvertently packed a snake in their luggage and somehow it escaped during transport," he told 7News Sunrise. "Then, when the staff went to pack the new luggage into the plane, there was a snake."

The snake was safely captured and taken to a veterinarian for examination. The flight departed for Brisbane about an hour behind schedule.