Is it just me, or does it seem like the animal kingdom is turning on us?
How many different animals have taken down aircraft over the past few months alone?
And now, we can add turtle avoidance to the list.
According to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report, a pilot of a small plane in North Carolina brought his craft to a fiery end thanks to a normal, everyday turtle on the runway.
A communications operator looking out the airport office window advised the pilot that there was a turtle on the runway, according to the report released this week. The operator reported that the pilot landed about 1,400 feet down the 2,424-foot runway, then lifted the right main wheel to avoid the turtle.
The aircraft caught air and left the ground at an angle, and it sounds like the pilot may have over corrected from that point, as the wings rocked back and forth.
The plane jumped over the hangar and crashed into a group of trees beyond the airport.
The plane was wedged between several trees and remained in one piece except for a few pieces of fabric found in a nearby stream. It came to rest on its left side with the left wing folded underneath the fuselage and the right wing bent toward the tail.
Unfortunately, the pilot and a passenger were killed in the crash.
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