This is the terrifying moment airplane passengers saw a scorpion crawling out of an overhead luggage compartment.

The Lion Air flight set off from the Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, on Thursday evening (February 14) and was bound for Jakarta.

But when the plane had landed and a woman stood up to open the locker, the venomous creature scampered out - sparking panic from those onboard the Boeing 737.

Concerned cabin crew rushed over to see what had caused the panic and began searching for the critter, which had already disappeared back inside the plane's roof.

It's not know how long the scorpion had been inside the plane, but it is believed to have been living deep within the aircraft for some time.

Onlooker Karim Taslin said: ''I was in row 19 with two other passengers. Next to me, a married couple, too. Seeing the scorpion just above our seat, we rushed out as fast as we could. I didn't have time to catch the scorpion. So it disappeared into the cabin baggage area. I pressed the emergency button. There was no response, so I shouted for help.''

Lion Air said in a statement that the plane had been sprayed a week earlier to remove any creatures. They are now investigating.

Spokesman Danang Mandala Prihantoro said: ''Ground service officers and technicians immediately carried out in-depth search and thorough handling of the aircraft after the passengers and cargo were removed, but no animals were found.''

This is the terrifying moment aeroplane passengers saw a SCORPION crawling out of the overhead luggage compartment.

The Lion Air flight set off from the Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, on Thursday evening and was bound for Jakarta.

But when the plane had landed and a woman stood up to open the locker, the venomous creature scampered out - sparking panic from those onboard the Boeing 737.

Concerned cabin crew rushed over to see what had caused the panic and began searching for the critter, which had already disappeared back inside the plane's roof.

It's not know how long the scorpion had been inside the plane, but it is believed to have been living deep within the aircraft for some time.

Onlooker Karim Taslin said: ''I was in row 19 with two other passengers. Next to me, a married couple, too. Seeing the scorpion just above our seat, we rushed out as fast as we could. I didn't have time to catch the scorpion. So it disappeared into the cabin baggage area. I pressed the emergency button. There was no response, so I shouted for help.''

Lion Air said in a statement that the plane had been sprayed a week earlier to remove any creatures. They are now investigating.

Spokesman Danang Mandala Prihantoro said: ''From the observations according to the photograph, the animal resembles a spider. Ground service officers and technicians immediately carried out in-depth search and thorough handling of the aircraft after the passengers and cargo were removed, but no animals were found.''