See, if there were more hunters....
http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews....6830bf1d.html
A small jet slammed into an elk during take-off at a small airport about 65 miles northwest of Portland, Oregon, early Tuesday, then skidded off the runway and erupted into a fireball.
The four passengers walked away without injuries. A spokesman for Astoria Regional Airport said the jet was carrying three civilians and a Canadian military official on a scheduled mission. It did not release further details.
AP
The twin-engine jet was destroyed by fire after it hit an elk during takeoff.
The business-type Lear 36 jet was taking off around 6:15 a.m. Pacific time when it crashed into an elk on the runway, airport manager Ron Larsen said. The pilot managed to keep the jet under control, Mr. Larsen said, directing it off the runway.
?I heard a boom,? said John Overholser, the owner of the airport?s Runway Café. ?It did not sound good to me.?
The rural airport near Astoria had planned to install a fence next summer to keep out the wandering herds of elk that frequent the area. ?We?ve had elk on this airport for years,? Mr. Larsen said, but they have never before caused a crash.
Coast Guard commander Patrick Brennan said he heard ?what sounded like an explosion? when the jet crashed. Emergency crews responding to the scene found flames gutting the jet?s midsection. Mr. Larsen said the crash may have severed a fuel line.
Mr. Overholser raced from the café after the crash and found the four crew members standing and unhurt. He said the jet ?was burning slightly? but flames were building; he did not see any leaking fuel.
Witnesses said they could not tell how large the elk was and did not know what it was doing on the runway.
The crash shut down the small airport, and Mr. Larsen said it would remain closed into Tuesday morning. Few flights were scheduled, he said.