Unusual accident — plane with passengers collides with a zebra (VIDEO)

A plane carrying 26 tourists collided with a zebra during takeoff from the Serengeti. Due to landing gear problems, the pilots performed a belly landing. All 30 people on board were unharmed, the zebra died.

A Safari Plane carrying 26 tourists from Tanzania's Serengeti National Park to Zanzibar collided with a zebra during takeoff from Seronera Airstrip on Sunday, October 4. After the collision, a landing gear malfunction was discovered, and the pilots changed course, heading to Kilimanjaro International Airport. During landing, the main landing gear struts failed to deploy, and the crew performed a belly landing — the plane slid down the runway on its fuselage. On board were 26 passengers and 4 crew members, all of whom evacuated the plane independently; no injuries were reported. The zebra died as a result of the collision. Kilimanjaro Airport temporarily suspended operations from 11:00 to 16:30 to clear the plane from the runway. Tanzania's Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority has launched an investigation; it has not been officially determined whether the collision with the zebra was the direct cause of the landing gear failure, although the events occurred sequentially.