During the landing the flight crew had spotted two bears crossing the runway. After the incident, while taxiing, the pilots saw a bear lying several feet off the center of the runway. The collision damaged the plane’s left engine cowl, but the crew and six passengers on board were not hurt.
Photo: Robert E-bear Johnson/Facebook
Upon learning of the incident, airport maintenance crews removed the bear carcass from the runway and brought it to a storage warehouse. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game was then contacted to arrange for the carcass’ proper disposal.
Sam Dapcecivh, a public information officer for Alaska’s Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, told CNN, “It’s a rare occurrence for something like this to happen. I’ve been in Alaska my whole life and we’ve had aircraft strike birds and other animals…but this is the first instance of a bear that I’ve ever heard of.” 