INDIANAPOLIS — Southwest Airlines says an Arizona man was stung by a scorpion that hitched a ride in his carry-on luggage and delivered its sting just before his flight landed.
Forty-four-year-old Douglas Herbstsommer of Gilbert, Ariz., wasn’t seriously injured Sunday when he was stung by a venomous Arizona bark scorpion while going through his luggage.
He was treated at Indianapolis International Airport.
Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis says the Arizona bark scorpion and five baby scorpions hitched a ride from Phoenix to Indianapolis in Herbstsommer’s luggage.
The scorpions were killed after the flight landed and the jetliner was fumigated as a precaution. Bark scorpions are venomous, but their sting rarely causes death.
