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.

    Meanwhile, flight attendants killed the scorpion and checked overhead compartments for any additional unwanted arachnids.

    The flight then took off at 8:40 p.m., late for about an hour.

    Members of Oregon State University’s men’s basketball team were on the flight, Cosgrove said.

    It’s unclear how the scorpion got on the plane, but the flight originated in Los Cabos, Mexico, he said.

    Oregon State Coach Wayne Tinkle said that the woman was sitting two rows in front of him.

    “The plane was coming from Mexico before us, and (the scorpion) was on the plane,” Tinkle said.

    “The woman was a real champ. She acted like it was a mosquito bite. They got it off her, but the needle was stuck.”

    The airline reached out to the woman Sunday regarding possible compensation for her inconvenience and to check on her condition, Cosgrove said.

    Only about 30 of about 1,500 species of scorpions can cause potentially fatal stings, according the website of the Mayo Clinic.

    “Scorpion stings, although painful, are mostly harmless,” a clinic posting said.

    (SD-Agencies)