Scorpion stings woman on flight

A scorpion stung a woman on the hand just before her flight from Los Angeles to Portland took off.

Flight 567 was taxiing on the runway Saturday night when the passenger was stung, Alaska Airlines spokesman Cole Cosgrove said.

The plane returned to the gate, and the woman was checked by medics. She refused additional medical treatment, but she didn't get back on the plane.

The woman stomped the scorpion to death, and flight attendants checked overhead compartments for any additional unwanted arachnids, Cosgrove said.  It's unclear how the scorpion got on the plane, but the flight originated in Los Cabos, Mexico, where scorpions are common, he said.

The flight then took off at 8:40 pm, about an hour late.

Wild boar delays flights

Spain's airport authority says a wild boar that broke through a perimeter fence at Madrid's international airport caused runways to be shut briefly and two landings to be delayed.

The beast set off security alarms late Friday and when cameras focused on the spot, operators observed it turning around and loping off through the hole it had made.

The incident happened 100 metres (330 feet) from the nearest stretch of runway. It delayed an incoming flight from London 20 minutes and a domestic flight from A Coruna 10 minutes, the airport authority's statement said Saturday.

Newspaper El Pais reported the captain aboard Iberia flight 3179 inbound from London told passengers an animal had "surprisingly" forced him to abort a landing approach.

The hole was repaired later.

(Image via Shutterstock)

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