An Alaska Airlines flight en route to Portland had to return to the gate at Los Angeles International Airport Saturday night after a woman was stung by a scorpion, airline officials said.
Medical personnel responded to the woman, who was stung in the arm, according to Cole Cosgrove, a spokesman for the airline. Flight attendants killed the scorpion and searched overhead compartments for "any additional, unwanted arachnids."
The unidentified woman refused additional medical treatment but did not get back on the plane, Cosgrove told the Associated Press.
The flight took off at about 8:40 p.m., 50 minutes behind schedule. It landed safely in Portland late Saturday night.
It's unclear how the scorpion got on the flight, which originated in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Both the Oregon State men's basketball team (which lost to USC 68-55) and the Portland University women's basketball team (which lost to Loyola Marymount 77-73) were on the commercial flight
Scorpion stings woman on plane, delaying flight at LAX