Scorpion Stung Woman On Flight To Los Angeles

How did the scorpion got on the plane? This deadly creature stung a woman on the hand minutes before her flight from Los Angeles to Portland took off.

Alaska Airlines Flight 567 was taxiing on the runway at the weekend when the passenger was stung.

The aircraft returned to the gate and the woman was checked by doctors, while flight attendants searched overhead compartments for any more unwanted arachnids.

The scorpion was killed.

Passenger Sara Zaragoza said she spotted the scorpion on the shoulder of a man, thinking it was a pin.

"But then I saw that it was moving. What's that? And we just started screaming," she said.

The victim refused additional medical treatment, but she did not get back on the plane.

"The woman was a real champ," said Wayne Tinkle, the coach of Oregon State University's men's basketball team who was on the flight.

"She acted like it was a mosquito bite. They got it off her, but the needle was stuck."

It is unclear how the scorpion got on the plane, but the flight originated in Los Cabos, Mexico, where scorpions are common, said Alaska Airlines spokesman Cole Cosgrove.

The flight took off about an hour late on Saturday night.