Air New Zealand Air Points - Pilot Brakes Suddenly to Avoid Bunny Rabbit

A little article written in the Sideswipe (light entertainment, funny happenings) section of the NZ Herald today says ...

"On Friday March 13, I was on an Air NZ flight from Auckland to Dunedin...The plane arrived at Dunedin, taxied along the runway when the pilot hit the brakes rather suddenly. I had to put my arm out to steady myself and to stop my upper body being flung forward. The pilot announced over the PA system that 'he'd like to explain what happened. A bunny rabbit (his words) was on the runway and he braked to avoid it. We would be pleased to know the bunny rabbit had got away.' Several passengers did the 'oh how sweet thing' sighing with approval. My response was a little different. Why would a pilot risk the safety of his passengers to save a known pest? It just highlighted to me that some people are bright some of the time."

Personally I would have thought it would be for the safety of the passengers that he would brake to avoid a rabbit - would hitting a rabbit affect a plane that was landing?

A taxiing (ie relatively low speed) 737 against a rabbit? Rabbit will come off badly and I expect not much happen to a/c.

as a pest control measure, pilot should have flattened the rabbit ;)

How would the sudden braking "risk the safety of his passengers"? Were the passengers not wearing seatbelts?

All well and good about pests, impact on pax & a/c, BUT...the real issue is: how would the Capt. know for certain that he wasn't about to snuff the Easter Bunny? He decided to err on the side of caution, rather than risk a catastrophe with world-wide consequences! Good on him ( or her???).

Starbear must be on the mark (or maybe something else:p)
Pilot was probably concerned about potential FOD if the non-Esater Bunny got sucked into the engine....:eek:

...maybe on something else?

Yeah. I wish!!

The FOD issue can be significant if wildlife gets sucked into an engine. I remember holding on a Florida taxiway for what seemed like ages - I was called up to the flight deck to bring a cup of tea while we settled in comfortably to watch a tortoise crawl slowly across our path. Eventually, a follow-me van pitched up and moved it away - they did this with an impressive level of care and observation of the area.

It was only later that I found out that some months prior, a DC-10 has suffered a gator strike during the take-off roll: It did neither party much good. It does explain the vigilance of the turtle-moving patrol however.

I have had to wait for a follow-me truck to come and encourage a donkey out of the way of our TriStar (L-1011). The 737 300+ series engines are known as "hoovers" for their ability to suck up anything. Watch a jet engine at power on a wet runway with the aircraft stopped (say at the start of the take-off) and see the reverse waterspout jump up from the ground and into the engine.

Wildlife does present a hazard, but it does keep some of the BA board in a job!

It's not just 737 engines that suck up stuff from the ground. Here's (http://www.flickr.com/photos/skyring/2985733565/) a B767 in Dublin making a vortex.

Dunedin's virtually a sheep paddock. No taxiways, just a hammerhead at each end of the narrow strip. Not surprised at the bunny popping up. Good thing he moved out of the way of the aircraft. Just hope the captain was beware of turbulence behind departing rabbit.

... beware of turbulence behind departing rabbit.

What had the little fella been eating?

Nice touch, Kiwi - brightened up my lunch hour!