2 giant hairy spiders cause panic on plane

In a shocking incident, two large hairy spiders unleashed mayhem on a Canada-bound flight as passengers screamed and stood on their seats after learning that they were sharing the cabin with the eight-legged critters.

Two hairy stowaways were blamed for unleashing a rare commotion on board a recent Air Transat flight from the Dominican Repub-lic to Montreal that sent passengers screaming in panic. Not one, but two tar-antulas, potentially measuring as much as 20 cm across, were spotted roaming the carpeted cabin soon after the inflight meal had been served on the April 18 flight from Punta Cana, a popular holiday destination, to Montreal in Quebec.

Catherine Moreau was watching a movie on her iPad on a flight to Montreal when she felt what she thought was a wire brushing against her.

“I brushed (it) away and it started tickling me again. That’s when I noticed the tarantula. I hit it to get it off me before it bit,” Moreau told CBC News.

Moreau is asking Air Transat for a partial refund over her encounter with the spider.

The tarantula that climbed her leg was one of two on the Montreal-bound Air Transat flight from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Passengers screamed and stood on their seats after learning they were sharing the cabin with the spiders.

Julie Roberts, vice-president of Air Transat’s flight attendant union, said flight attendants “did what they could to calm people down”.

“They gave first aid to the person who said that a spider climbed (her) legs,” she said. Flight attendants also asked passengers to put on their shoes and cover their ankles.