An early morning Alaska Airlines flight this week didn't have a great landing at its final destination of Kodiak. The Anchorage Daily News reports that Flight 231 out of Anchorage touched down around 8am local time on Thursday at Kodiak Benny Benson State Airport and immediately smacked into two deer on the runway as it was taxiing to a stop. No passengers or crew members aboard the 737 were hurt, though inspectors say the plane's main landing gear took a bit of beating.
"There is deer on the runway," the pilot can be heard telling air traffic control soon after he received the OK to land, per CNN. Alaska's News Source has video of the landing, where the plane can be seen speeding down the runway as multiple tiny specks appear to try to run out of its path. The plane was able to still make its way to its parking spot, and all flights going in and out of the airport for the rest of Thursday were shut down, with passengers rebooked on new flights.
"I was supposed to travel to the [Mat-Su] Valley and then ... to Kasilof ... for the weekend," one forlorn passenger tells the Daily News. "My mom and I were going to get an Airbnb. ... Now ... we're just going to have to cancel the entire trip." The deer, meanwhile, didn't make it, the airline said in a statement.
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CNN notes that deer were struck by airplanes in the US more than two dozen times in 2024. Other animals that were hit by US aircraft last year, in Kodiak and beyond, per the FAA's Wildlife Strike Database: alligators, a mongoose, a badger, bats, coyotes, skunks, opossums, and various birds, including bald eagles—two of which were hit at the Kodiak airport last year.
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