An airliner hit two cows while landing in Venezuela this week, killing both bovines and significantly damaging the jet.
The cows were reportedly occupying the single runway at Mayor Buenaventura Vivas Airport in Santo Domingo, Venezuela, when Aserca Airlines Flight 764 from Caracas, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (YV348T) touched down Wednesday afternoon. Unable to clear the plane’s path, the cows were impacted by the jet’s left main landing gear and left wing flaps.
All 131 people onboard emerged unharmed, but both cows died instantly. The plane had to be towed off the runway following the incident, according to The Aviation Herald.
The flaps on the plane’s left wing suffered considerable damage, as did the landing gear.
Unfortunately, cows are no strangers to the dangers posed by aircraft.
- In 2005, a herd of cows was hit by an Air France Airbus A330 carrying nearly 200 passengers while landing in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Following that incident, local authorities began arresting stray cows and holding them until their owners paid a fine.
- In 2011, an Aviastar Twin Otter carrying 30 people hit three cows while landing at Komodo Airport in Indonesia. The front of that plane suffered damage and the cows were killed.
- And in 2008, the wing of a British biplane clipped a cow while making an emergency landing, an incident which was caught on video. The cow was not injured.
