Snakes on a plane? Qantas’ big issues with aircraft storage

Qantas engineers maintaining the airline’s grounded Airbus A380 fleet in the Californian Mojave desert are facing a pretty big problem: Rattlesnakes are making homes in the landing gear

The airline moved its superjumbo fleet to Victorville aircraft boneyard for deep storage last year, due to the downturn in air travel and the suspension of its international routes.

The location’s dry heat and low humidity make it ideal for storing aircraft, but at the same time, it’s also an ideal environment for highly venomous rattlesnakes and scorpions.

The nasty critters are setting up home around the grounded planes’ tyres and landing gear.

Qantas says it does have a plan

The Aussie airline has revealed it has began using a “wheel whacker” to try and scare off the snakes before carrying out inspections.

Meanwhile the airlines boss Alan Joyce has estimated the A380s won’t return to the skies until 2023, when demand for international travel is expected to recovered.

The world’s largest passenger aircraft, the A380 can carry up to 485 passengers in Qantas’s four-class layout.

Several Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are also used for international long-haul routes, have also been put into storage at Mojave, though the airline recently announced it would start putting Dreamliners on its Sydney-Perth route.