Bird strike!

[Bill Hart]

HOLY COW!!!!

[jrenwick]

That's so sad. At least it looks like all the humans were probably OK. I hope they were!

[bsdunek]

That was a giraffe! How many of those do we encounter on the runways?

[GAHorn]

I hate to see this sort of thing. (I'm a softie I guess. I say short prayers when I see animals killed on the highway, and quit what I used to call "hunting" years ago.)
This pic is pitifully sad.

[TxGR]

That was a giraffe! How many of those do we encounter on the runways?

I haven't seen any Giraffes, but I barely missed a Carabao that wondered onto the runway at Clark (Omni) in Angeles, Philippines. I was concentrating on the doghouses (as a student) and as I broke the glide, there was this huge black beast in the middle of the runway!

I added power, climbed, cruised above said Carabao and advised the tower they needed somebody to persuade the animal to leave.

For those who don't know, Carabao are huge black solid beasts. I am not sure I would have hurt the animal, but the aircraft I was flying would have crumpled up like a paper plane (C-152).

[KMac]

I agree with bsdunek - thats no cow, its a giraffe! I saw one at the wild animal park once!

Hope the people were ok.

[The Farmer]

The people were fine!
Ops in Africa are dangerous, but are more so when the operators expect the pilots to do miraculous things with the loads and hot-&-high.
Everyone needs experience, and the charter pilots go deep into Africa to get it, and if they don't do as they are told, then there is always another pilot who will.
I am not saying this is what happened in this case, though. Takeoff roll, and a giraffe strolled onto the runway, I think.

[The Farmer]

Sorry all, I forgot to say that I have spent a lot of time beating up a runway occupied by Gnu (we call them Wildebeest) and Impala antelope, with light fading and fuel concernes in a chipmunk. The animals just don't see the need to move from the nice green pasture sometimes!
It does add to the fun though.

[Zreyn]

Learned to fly in the 170B that I had just bought & still have in 1981 Honduras where the the runway was the smoothest & most direct way back & forth to town for all the people who lived west of the town of Tela,not to mention that for some reason all the free running cows had decided that the runway was the very best place to stand & slowly chew thier cud. The most common form of transport of course was bicycles & of course "shanks mare"also lots of pickups & two wheeled horse carts called taxis.Anyway the process of landing always included several passes up & down the runway to alert all the people on bicycles & in cars & pickups & to try herd the live stock off the runway! Of course the first chore after tie down was cleaning the bottom of the wings & horizontal stab.

[iowa]

this is on the warbird section of G503.com
iowa

http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.ph ... b289c38d6f

[Indopilot]

I was on take-off run on an Indonesian interior strip, tail just starting to fly when I noticed movement to my left. One of the village cows was headed onto the strip at a run. I had time to think NUTS when she hit the end of her rope and swaped ends, at the edge of the runway. All I actually hit during my time there was 2-3 chickens.
I know of a guy who also had Carabao problems in the Phillipines with a supercub. After several low passes it still had not moved. He decided it was time for a LOW pass. About the time he was doing a touch and go on its back it threw up its head and took out one of his 8.50's. Expensive way to dehorn a carabao. It did move. He managed to land ok.