'It started tickling me': Passenger recounts horror at meeting tarantula on Air Transat flight

Catherine Moreau was watching a movie on her iPadon a flight to Montrealwhen 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," Moreau told CBC News.

"I hit it to get it off me before it bit."

Now Moreau is asking Air Transat for a partialrefund over her encounter withthe spider.

Tarantula fright on Air Transat flight

8 years ago

Duration 1:56

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. When she looked down she saw a giant, furry tarantula climbing up her leg.

The tarantula that climbed her legwas one of twoonaMontreal-bound Air Transatflight fromPuntaCana, Dominican Republic, on April 18, the airline and the union representing its flight attendants have confirmed.

Passengers screamed and stood on their seats after learning they shared the cabin with the eight-legged critters.

Julie Roberts,vice-presidentof AirTransat'sflight attendantunion, said flight attendants "did what they couldto 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.

Callsfor a refund

Moreauwants the four flight tickets for her family partiallyreimbursed by AirTransat.The incident left her scratched and her 11-year-old daughter suffering from shock, she said.

Catherine Moreau's daughter said she "couldn't breathe" from all the screaming and crying she did after seeing the tarantula in front of her.

8 years ago

Duration 0:15

Two tarantulas were lose on an Air Transat flight in April. One woman is asking the airline to refund her family's tickets after their run in with one of them.

According to Moreau, aftershe brushed the spider off her leg, it hid under her daughter's luggage. Her husband came and grabbed it and asked for a bag from the cabin crew to hold the spider.

"It tooka long time from when wescreamed to get a bag to put it in," Moreau said.

That delaywas only the beginning of her grievances with Air Transat.

Her daughterhas been suffering from nightmares. In addition,Moreau was promised a report from Air Transatso she could identify the spider in case the scratches led to health issues.She never got the report.

She saidshesent the airline a registered letter about her complaint, which they signed for a week ago, but still hasn't heard back.

She also claims she was stopped from taking a photograph of the spider that would have helped her identify the species.

While the tarantula that crawled up her leg remained in custody, theother spider continued to roam the planebefore being recovered by a federal agent once the plane landed at Montreal'sTrudeau Airport.

tienne Normandin, an entomologist at theUniversity ofMontreal, said the tarantulas were likely a species calledPhormictopus cancerides, which "is very common in theDominican Republic and Haiti, andeasy to catch."

He addedthat the spider is"aggressive, but the venom is not strong."

May have been in luggage

Normandin said it may have been hidden in a passenger'sluggage for resale.

"The market for live tarantulas is very lucrative," he said, adding thatPhormictopus cancerides is a species that is often sold.

For its part,Air Transatacknowledged passengers were surprised, but said they "reacted calmly."

"Our cabin crew are trained to ensure the safety of our passengers at all times," spokeswomanDebbie Cabana said in an email.

"In the case at hand, which is an unusualand isolated event, our staff reacted promptly and efficiently."

The union, however, says there were no procedures in place to handle spiders.

Roberts said several recommendations have been made following the incident, and if something similar happens in the future,they will have a "clear procedure."