China Daily Network November 16 (Gao Linlin) On the evening of the 14th local time, an Alaska Airlines passenger plane hit a brown bear when it landed at Yakuta Airport in southeastern Alaska. The accident caused serious damage to the plane and the brown bear that was hit died on the spot. The US "Anchorage Daily News" reported that no passengers or crew on board were injured in the accident.
Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities spokesperson Sam Dapcevich (Sam Dapcevich) said that the Boeing 737-700 crashed and killed a female brown bear, but another bear cub, about 2 years old, was not injured.
He said that the airport staff had cleared the runway 10 minutes before the plane was expected to land. When the staff checked the runway in accordance with normal procedures, no signs of wild animals were found, but the pilot found two bears crossing the runway while the plane was decelerating after landing.
Alaska Airlines pointed out in a statement that the nose gear of the plane did not hit the bear, but when the bear passed under the plane, the captain felt an impact on the left side. In addition, the pilot saw the bear lying about 20 feet (about 6.1 meters) from the center of the runway when the aircraft was taxiing to the tarmac before 6:30 in the afternoon.
It is reported that the left side hood of the aircraft was damaged, and the aircraft was still stranded in Yakuta on the 15th. At present, airport personnel have cleared the bear’s body from the runway, and part of the airport has also been fenced off. The airline said that maintenance technicians are working hard to repair the aircraft, which will take several days.
According to the "Anchorage Daily News," airport employees receive training on wildlife hazards every year and use fireworks or vehicles to drive animals away.
There had been news about the plane crashing into deer, geese, caribou and other animals in Alaska. Dapčević said this was the first time he had heard of the plane crashing into a bear. He also revealed that the Alaska Fisheries Department expects to collect the bear's carcass.
