Melbourne, April 16 : Four baby snakes prevented a Qantas plane in Melbourne from flying after they attempted to get free from a flight from Alice Springs.

The bizarre incident occurred when the flight arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday, and it was found that the four baby Stimson''s pythons were missing from their container.

A Qantas spokeswoman revealed that the 15cm snakes were among 12 pythons in a container in the Boeing 737-800''s cargo hold, reports the Courier Mail.

She said that the search for the missing snakes forced two flights to be cancelled, but the pythons could not be found.

She further revealed that the plane was later fumigated, and returned to service the following day.

Stimson''s pythons, which can grow up to one metre long, are not venomous and live in Western and central Australia. (ANI)