A safari flight over Tanzania turned into a dramatic aviation incident after a passenger plane struck and killed a zebra while taking off from an airstrip inside the Serengeti National Park.
The Sindbard Air Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia, carrying 26 passengers and four crew members, was taking off from Seronera Airstrip on October 4 when it collided with the animal on the runway.
The aircraft was headed to Zanzibar when the wildlife strike damaged the landing gear, forcing the pilots to divert to Kilimanjaro International Airport, where emergency crews were put on standby.
The plane later made a dramatic emergency landing with its main landing gear retracted. Its underside scraped along the runway as smoke appeared from beneath the aircraft.
Despite the alarming scene, all 30 people aboard survived and no injuries were reported.
The aircraft suffered substantial damage, while the zebra was killed in the collision. The incident also temporarily disrupted operations at Kilimanjaro International Airport as emergency crews secured the aircraft and cleared the runway.
The wildlife strike highlights one of the unusual risks faced by aircraft operating in Tanzania’s tourism circuit, where safari planes use airstrips located close to wildlife habitats.
Seronera Airstrip sits inside the Serengeti, an area inhabited by large numbers of zebras, wildebeest, elephants and other animals. Unlike major commercial airports, safari airstrips in protected areas operate in environments where wildlife can wander onto runways.
The Tanzania Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Branch is investigating the incident to establish the circumstances surrounding the wildlife strike and the subsequent landing gear failure.
Kilimanjaro International Airport is about 430 kilometres from Seronera, meaning the damaged aircraft had to be flown a considerable distance before making its emergency landing.
The Serengeti is home to an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 zebras, alongside other wildlife including lions, elephants and leopards.
Wildlife strikes have also caused aviation incidents elsewhere in Africa. In 2020, a commercial aircraft hit a wildebeest while landing at an airstrip in a Kenyan wildlife reserve.
In Zimbabwe, a plane was forced to make an emergency landing in 2009 after striking a warthog.
Another unusual incident occurred in South Africa when a penguin reportedly caused a helicopter crash after escaping from a cardboard box on a passenger’s lap and interfering with the controls.
