Large Transport
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
General None Reported / Taken
Environment - Non Weather Related
This was an international flight returning from San Jose; Costa Rica. This may or may not be significant to this report; however I feel it is important to add this. I am submitting this report; as well as an incident report because of the potential harm that could have happened to the flight attendants; as well as to any passengers who were in the aft galley during the course of the flight.During descent; after both galleys were secured and all flight attendants were secured in their respective jump seats; the call light for a phone call rang; and I (D flight attendant) answered it. On the other end was the B flight attendant who had an urgency in her voice. She said that there was a 'huge' centipede in the aft galley; that the C flight attendant was 'losing it'; and she wasn't sure what to do. Because we were coming from a foreign country and because I know that certain centipedes are poisonous; and because I knew we had time still before landing; but mostly because of the urgency in her voice I told her that I would be there in a minute to help. I told the A flight attendant; who said she knew first hand that centipedes can be dangerous; and I quickly walked to the aft galley. When I got to the aft galley; they told me that the centipede had crawled under the jump seat they had been sitting in. I looked and saw a very large (it seemed to be 5 to 6 inches in length; and possibly even longer) in the corner by the jump seat. I grabbed some coffee cups to try to trap the centipede in; but the centipede was moving so fast that I decided to just try to step on it. Before I could do that; the B flight attendant was able to catch the centipede in a cup that she had grabbed. To keep the centipede from falling out; I put another cup in the cup that contained the centipede and then put both cups into a trash bag. I then quickly (trash bag in hand) walked back up to the front galley to get back in my own jump seat. Before I did; I double bagged the bag with the centipede. All of this happened before the landing gear had even gone down yet.When we landed; I told the Captain about the centipede. He told someone in the jet way; and the person in the jet way told me to give the bag to the Customer Service Agent; and she would take it to Agriculture.It is unknown what caused the event. It is unknown if the centipede was already on the plane when it came from the US or if it came from Costa Rica during boarding. This was approximately 5 1/2 hour flight from Costa Rica and the centipede was not discovered in the aft galley until descent. During the course of the flight; a doctor; a nurse; an ill passenger and several other passengers; along with the flight attendant had been in the aft galley; with no knowledge of the centipede in the cabin.
Air carrier Flight Attendant reported finding a large centipede in the aft galley on a flight from MROC.