Alaska Airlines plane kills brown bear crossing runway

Only in Alaska.

A brown bear crossing a runway in Yakutat was killed when it was struck by a landing Alaska Airlines flight Saturday evening, The Anchorage Daily News reported.

Its roughly 2-year-old cub survived and no one was injured on the Boeing 737-700, which was left with a damaged left engine cowl after the grisly accident.

Airport personnel had cleared the runway several minutes before Flight 66 was due to arrive, state transportation spokesman Sam Dapcevich told the news outlet.

The workers did not see any wildlife, but seconds after the plane landed the pilots spotted two bears crossing the runway, Dapcevich said.

“The nose gear missed the bears, but the captain felt an impact on the left side after the bears passed under the plane,” the airline said in a statement.

The pilots saw the “bear lying about 20 feet off the center of the runway,” as the plane taxied to the gate about 6:30 p.m., it said.

“Our maintenance technicians are working to repair the plane, which will take a couple of days,” added the Alaska Airlines statement, which said the plane had arrived from Cordova and was scheduled to fly to Juneau next.

There were six passengers aboard the plane, according to KTVA-TV.

Dapcevich said officials with the state Department of Fish and Game were expected to collect the bear’s remains, which were cleared by Yakutat Airport workers.

Employees at the airport, which is partly enclosed by a fence, undergo annual wildlife hazard training and use pyrotechnics or vehicles to move animals away from the area when necessary, he said.

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