Newsstand - Emergency landing after plane hits wallaby

macropod marsupial, that is, not a rugby player


http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22326833-5013016,00.html

A PLANE was forced to make an emergency landing at Darwin International Airport after hitting a wallaby on takeoff.

The pilot and a nurse who were aboard the Aerial Medical Service King Air plane escaped injury and the plane landed safely about 2.45am Tuesday.
Police said the plane was taking off from the Tindal RAAF Base, near Katherine 300km south of Darwin, bound for Ngukurr when it hit the wallaby, damaging its landing gear.

The aircraft flew past engineers who assessed the damage before ordering the plane to land in Darwin.

The pilot had to circle for more than an hour to burn fuel before bringing the plane to ground.

On landing, the plane's right wing collapsed and was dragged for about 100m before coming to a stop.

Firefighters on hand doused the plane in foam as a precautionary measure.

Pearl Aviation, which operates the aircraft for the Health Department's Aerial Medical Service, declined to comment.

The wallaby's condition was unknown

Only in Australia, baby. No, really, only in Australia.

The wallaby's condition was unknown

:D

Lucky it was only a wallaby. The really big kangaroos would probably have prevented the plane from taking off considering the damage this one did.

Noting that this was Darwin crocodiles are also a threat.

Crocodiles are unlikely to be a problem... at Tyndal...300 klicks south of Darwin...:D

There are lots of crocodiles near Tindal at Katherine Gorge. Besides in the NT everything is near a crocodile, just read the local paper.:p