Kangaroo hit during take-off, Mildura to Melbourne flight cancelled
Regional Express Airlines (REX) Flight ZL3653 was cancelled Thursday because the airplane hit a kangaroo during take-off at around 6:30 a.m. The passengers of the Mildura to Melbourne flight had to bear with the setback due to the accident that happened on the Mildura Airport airstrip. It's unclear whether or not the animal was killed during the incident.
ABC Mildura journalist Tom Maddocks shared about the Melbourne-bound flight cancellation on his official Twitter account.
Mildura to Melb flight cancelled after plane struck kangaroo during take-off. REX says it was dark when roo was hit on runway. Prpellor dmgd
— Tom Maddocks (@MaddocksThomas) July 30, 2015
Some of the Twitter user’s comments on Maddocks’ tweet wondered what happened to kangaroo while the others dubbed the kangaroo incident at the Mildura Airport as “The Flying Kangaroo” or the new airstrike called “Roostrike.” REX Airlines and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) could not confirm the condition of the kangaroo after hitting the plane.
@vavidi @ABCRural REX and ATSB couldn't confirm whether it was dead but safe to assume the worst if it struck a moving propeller.
— Tom Maddocks (@MaddocksThomas) July 30, 2015Business Insider Australia reports that the REX Flight ZL3653 from the NSW/Victorian border town of Mildura hit a kangaroo during take-off at around 6:30 a.m. The airline explained that it was dark during the time when the airplane and the kangaroo collided.
The marsupial suddenly appeared on the runway and got caught in the airplane’s right propeller. The Age Victoria reports that aircraft engineers arrived to conduct an inspection on the damaged Saab 340 twin-turboprop on the plane.
Alicia Chapple, a spokesperson for REX Airlines, confirmed in a Sunraysia Daily report that the airplane was deemed “unserviceable.” The airline provided the passengers of the delayed Mildura-Melbourne flight with alternative flight arrangements to their destination.
Mildura Airport CEO Bill Burke, who has been working at the regional airport in Victoria for the past six years, revealed that it is the first time for an airplane to hit a kangaroo during take-off.
“Where it came from, nobody would know. We have a very stringent inspection regime that we adhere to. Basically, there was nothing more than we could have done,” Burke said in the Sunraysia Daily report.
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