Guyana: Plane hits capybara on runway, nose gear collapses, all onboard unharmed

Guyana: A Trans Guyana Airways (TGA) aircraft was involved in a runway accident hours ago at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport after encountering animals on the runway during landing. According to initial reports, the Beechcraft aircraft struck a capybara shortly after touchdown.

The impact reportedly caused significant damage to the aircraft’s propeller which reportedly disintegrated and forced the pilot to take evasive action. Moments later, the aircraft experienced a nose gear collapse which resulted in a runway excursion.

Officials confirmed that there were no injuries reported during the runway incident. The aircraft involved was significantly damaged and it arrived from Suriname shortly after 6 pm when the incident took place.

The incident was also confirmed by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority who noted that, “The aircraft, bearing registration number 8R-GAQ, was completing an inbound flight from Suriname to Guyana when it departed the runway surface upon landing. There were 14 persons onboard at the time of the incident. There are no reported injuries, however, the nose gear of the aircraft was damaged. The preliminary reports suggest that this was caused by wildlife breaching the runway during landing.”

The GCAA confirmed that it has immediately launched a formal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident in accordance with the established civil aviation safety protocols.

The images and videos from the incident are also going viral online with locals expressing their shock. One of them who was on the flight at the time of the incident said, “I flew here on Friday and, honestly, I thought I was going to die during the landing. The pilot said he had to avoid birds while we were still in the air… something must have been wrong.” On the other hand, one of the locals felt bad for the animal and said, “Can't blame this poor animal, the runway was built on their territory and this animal doesn't know any better hope everyone is ok.”