spanky15805
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Bears & airplanes
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mmckenna
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Not uncommon in Alaska. They used to have to send guys out to chase bears off the runways in various places I lived.
Actually, they say it is the first time a bear has ever been hit! I find that hard to believe myself, since bears are up there everywhere, including on the runways. But apparently one has never actually been hit.
I'm surprised no one spotted it early enough--bears must move faster than I thought! In nearby Wisconsin pilots've managed to avoid deer and I thought deer move faster than bears. (Reminds me of the following gag: "tower, this is 34 Alpha. Be advised there's a turtle on the runway." "Roger 34 Alpha. All aircraft on final approach, beware of wake turbulence on the runway."
AvHerald Article
According to the AvHerald, the runway was cleared 10 min prior to landing, no wildlife was noted. Typically, once thrust reversers are deployed the aircraft is committed to a full stop landing. Come what may. If the bear is a mile down the runway, the pilots would have no chance to avoid it assuming they could see it before impact.
k6cpo
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So they don't use fences in Alaska?
Bears can run 35MPH, about the same as a deer and faster than all but the fastest dogs.
mmckenna
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Have you ever seen a bear? Fences don't stand a chance.
Considering the size of the bear, plus the color contrast between the bear and pavement, I'd be surprised if it gets missed entirely--especially with the cockpit crew focusing their entire attention on what's in front of them, not to mention that someone in the tower's probably keeping an eye on runway traffic...plus whoever else might be out there...
Yakutat actually has no air traffic control tower, it's a CTAF field with airfield advisory provided by a remote flight service station. Airport operations inspected the runway 10 min prior and reported nothing out there.
If the bear is away from the runway, and then runs out in front of the plane while it's rolling out, the flight crew will have very few options. No pilot flying a jet would want to exit the runway in order to avoid a bear.
mmckenna
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And seriously, bear burgers are pretty tasty.
I wonder what the cooking time is once it hits a jet engine...
spanky15805
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" In 1987, another unlikely collision occurred between wildlife and an Alaska Airlines airplane -- but that aircraft hit a fish.
Salmon patties!
Salmon patties!
There is a new show on the Smithsonian Channel called Ice Airport Alaska. It's on Sunday nights. What's funny they were following an airport ops person around and he mentioned how they have to carefully check the perimeter fences around the Anchorage airport for spots where bears have dug under the fence and cause problems on the airport.
spacellamaman
Member
"Yeah, we have a lot of problems with the local bears. Constantly having to run 'em off. They will scoot under the fence soon as they think no ones looking. Lotsa problems. You'll catch em out here necking, drinking beer, shooting off fireworks. And lord, do they love a good picnic. Trash strewn eeeverywhere. Savages!"
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I am always challenged by the fact that there really isn't anything interesting anymore for me personally on RR, the same couple of dozen questions over and Over & Over. I love this thread. I live in Pennsylvania in Bucks County. The deer just walk up to you in the shopping center when you go to pick up your prescriptions or groceries
Please tell me more, entertain me. I love this thread. Again I'm not in Alaska but I am in a part of a state who live with deer and on the Northern central part of the State live with constant bear...
mmckenna
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I lived in Alaska for a while, Kodiak, specifically. The large airport there was shared by commercial flights, private aircraft and the USCG. USCG flew C-130's out of there, as well as helicopters, falcons and occasionally other stuff. I used to periodically catch rides on C-130's for trips out to other places. Since the airfield was so large, and touched the ocean, fencing it in wasn't a realistic option. They would occasionally have to run out there in a pickup truck and scare the bears off the runway. Kodiak brown bears are large and don't give a flying flip about your little fence. They do what they want, where they want, and when they want. Man and bear share a slot on the food chain. Sometimes they eat us, sometimes we eat them. Bears also don't know how to fly and don't understand aeronautics, so they are not as sharp as some people seem to think when it comes to the happenings around airports. No doubt someone has made an attempt to properly train the bears, but it sure seems like maybe they forgot. Anyway, running them off with a truck usually helped them remember for a while.
Like I said, I used to catch rides on them. That usually meant I was flying somewhere else. That somewhere else was often a little speck of rock out on the Aleutian Island chain, or the Pribloff Islands. Not may bears out there but other critters that were large and didn't understand VFR. Pickup trucks, snow mobiles or snow cats were often used to educate the animals regarding right-of-way on the airfield.
The other thing we had issues with was seal lions. Often we had markers on small islands so as the ships would mostly avoid running into them. The sea lions would like to share those small rocks sticking out of the water with our aids to navigation. They were happy there, I guess they enjoyed the flashing green or red lights, or maybe the soft glow of the white lights was romantic or something. Anyway, said aids to navigation periodically needed maintenance. Landing a crew using a small boat on said small rock usually was met with much laughter from the sea lions. They felt the odd looking bipeds in the orange suits looked funny, and they really didn't take us seriously. The loud honkolator on the top of the ship usually didn't annoy them enough to move. The solution was for one of the funny looking bipeds in the orange suits to take a "bang stick" and annoy the crap out of the sea lions. That usually worked, however, scaring the crap out of sea lions resulted in a lot of, well, crap. Not to mention sea lion juices. Said crap and bodily fluids was pungent and offended the humans, but the guy with all the stripes said we had to work on the light anyway and that we'd get used to the smell (we didn't, it was a lie).
In Alaska I learned rather quickly that man isn't in charge, and no matter what we though or how we tried to fool ourselves into thinking it, it just wasn't so. We are but specs in the larger scheme of things. Bobbing around in the Bering Sea in the middle of winter and watching the aurora borealis makes you feel mighty small and insignificant, but that can be a wonderful experience and it teaches one humility.
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Well there you go... I'm an Avid Reader. That contributes to overall knowledge and again, it depends on what you read...
Thanks, excellent post... I have seen the Aurora Borealis in my many many trips to Canada. I lived in the Buffalo area of New York on the Border and often traveled into Canada and went as North as I could. I was fortunate to see the aurora borealis often. I am an advanced astronomer and always had a sophisticated Observatory, first telescope at 10.
I grew up in Philly and I'm there now but for about 15 years I lived in New York state on Long Island and upstate in the Niagara Falls area... My hunting license was endorsed for bear hunting. I'm not a hunter, but the way the pistol Carry Permits work if you're going camping and have to disable your long guns at sundown you can carry a sidearm as long as you have a carry permit endorsed for hunting which I always had and still do in New York state. The reason was... Bear
I'm in Pennsylvania now and my carry permit just says self defense so that's not an issue anymore.
We have talked about so many things, and I appreciate your post. It makes this forum all the more worthwhile...Bob.
Thanks, excellent post... I have seen the Aurora Borealis in my many many trips to Canada. I lived in the Buffalo area of New York on the Border and often traveled into Canada and went as North as I could. I was fortunate to see the aurora borealis often. I am an advanced astronomer and always had a sophisticated Observatory, first telescope at 10.
I grew up in Philly and I'm there now but for about 15 years I lived in New York state on Long Island and upstate in the Niagara Falls area... My hunting license was endorsed for bear hunting. I'm not a hunter, but the way the pistol Carry Permits work if you're going camping and have to disable your long guns at sundown you can carry a sidearm as long as you have a carry permit endorsed for hunting which I always had and still do in New York state. The reason was... Bear
I'm in Pennsylvania now and my carry permit just says self defense so that's not an issue anymore.
We have talked about so many things, and I appreciate your post. It makes this forum all the more worthwhile...Bob.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
We were pretty much instructed to not go out into the woods without something. I don't hunt, never did, but I did carry a rifle with me when out there. I never fooled myself into thinking I'd actually hit a bear if one was after me, it was more of a noise maker.
Not uncommon to see everyone carrying up there. It was just considered normal. On Saturdays it was not uncommon to see a couple of kids heading out of town on their bikes with their .22's. No one cared. Anyone going hunting carried something large, like a .44 on their hip, just in case your rifle jammed when the bear found you.
Back here in the lower 48, the rifle sits in the closet. I haven't taken it out in years. At some point I'll take my son out with my uncles old single shot J.C. Higgins .22 and let him try it out.
As for the Northern Lights, I've seen them quite a few times, and it never gets old.
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