The Naked Traveller explores the stranger side of air travel

FROM snakes in the cockpit to pilots trapped in toilets, the Naked Traveller explores the stranger side of air travel.

Braden Blennerhassett

IF I was to ask you to pick a travel destination where people got naked, encountered predatory animals and were continually involved in drunken, bad behaviour, I'm willing to bet your first guess would be a hostel, nightclub or some raunchy Jamaican swingers hotel.

Unfortunately, you'd be wrong.

The place where all the action is these days is on a plane.

If you don’t believe me, two plane-related news stories recently might change your mind.

Firstly there was the case of pilot Braden Blennerhassett, who was flying a freight plane in the Northern Territory when a snake emerged from his instrument panel.

Blennerhassett eventually informed air traffic control about his slithering problem, but not without difficulty as the snake popped it's head out right by the radio transmit button.

By the time the plane landed, the snake had disappeared, but Samuel L. Jackson was called just in case...

Then came the story of a woman who gave birth on a trans-continental flight, helped by a flight attendant who sterilised makeshift medical equipment with vodka.

Susan Carnes also used scissors and gloves from her galley bag and shoe laces from passengers to help deliver little Edosalume Oyedoh - somewhere between Atlanta and Senegal.

Whether Carnes was reprimanded for not serving drinks and selling duty free is unknown.

You could say these tales just highlight a particularly crazy week in the life of air travel but if you delve a little deeper, you’ll find a world of crazy antics and behaviour that can make the plane ride the most exciting part of your holiday.

With a cast of characters including naughty celebrities, runaway animals and stripteasing stewardesses, here are just a few of the craziest things that have happened on a plane.

Celebs Behaving Badly

A decade ago, if a celebrity wanted to rustle up a little publicity they'd leak a sex tape, but now it's all about getting into trouble on a plane.

The trend was started by (not-so) supermodel Naomi Campbell, who threw a hissy fit on a BA flight back in 2008 - and she's since been followed by a host of B-listers getting kicked to the curb (of the runway).

Best reasons for being kicked off a flight include Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong (his pants sagged too much), actress Leisha Hailey (kissing her girlfriend) and Ivana Trump (swearing at unruly children).

Toilet Terrorist

In November 2011, a pilot who locked himself in the toilet caused a terror scare when a passenger trying to help the cubicle-bound captain was mistaken for a terrorist.

The Chatauqua Airlines captain couldn't get out of the can and a passenger who heard his cries tried to inform the cockpit of his plight.

However, the co-pilot wasn't buying the 'story', telling the La Guardia tower: "What I am being told is he's stuck in the lay... and someone with a thick foreign accent is giving me a password to access the cockpit. I'm not about to let him in".

The situation was defused after the captain fought his way out and they all had a good chuckle about the misunderstanding with the FBI upon landing.

Animal House

The problem with smuggling animals onto planes is that the cargo sometimes likes to go walkabout.

Which is exactly what happened when a foot long croc decided to take a stroll down the aisle of an EgyptAir flight en route to Cairo in 2009 before crew cornered the critter.

This incident followed another smuggler trying to leave Egypt two years earlier with a bag containing 250 crocs, snakes and chameleons. Whatever happened to bringing a newspaper or a good book?

Bath Time

Taking a flight for the first time can be a bit daunting but one virgin passenger caused a bit of a fuss by taking too long in the toilets on a Chinese domestic flight in 2007.

As lined-up passengers began to see water coming out from under the door, cabin crew opened the door to find Mr. Jin Sheng giving himself a sponge bath.

It transpired Sheng hadn't had a wash in a while and the sight of the hot tap in the sink proved a little too tempting.
'Mom' Alert

Rivalling the dunny-bound pilot for unnecessarily scaring his passengers is the co-pilot on a Southwest Airlines flight who tried to give a shout out to a "mom on the plane" with terrifying consequences.

Many passengers thought they heard "bomb on the plane" instead, which sparked a panic throughout the cabin. The captain came back onto the tannoy to explain that he was wishing an air traffic controller's mum a happy birthday but many people complained about the incident upon landing.

Cockpit Striptease

What is it with air stewardesses? If they're not having a bunk-up with Voldemort or running out of your first-choice meal, they're vamping it up with stripteases for the pilots.

A female flight attendant was filmed giving a saucy show-and-tell to the pilots of French airline AOM, while the all-male flight crew could be heard saying "Oo-la-la" and "Bravo!" as she took her top off.

English newspaper The Sun, who ran the story last year, reported the airline has now gone, ahem... bust.