A straggling caribou was decapitated at the Deadhorse airport on Friday by an aircraft co-operated by ConocoPhillips and British Petroleum, when it came in for a landing on Friday.

According to the Alaska Dispatch News, who first reported on the incident in Alaska, as the aircraft was coming in for a landing at the remote North Slope  airport, the flight crew on the aircraft spotted the caribou on the strip and and immediately initiated an abort of the landing. But, that abort came too late for the caribou, and it was hit by the landing gear, killing it instantly.

Following the fatal strike, the aircraft performed a low flyby so that the crew on the ground could observe the landing gear for any damage. While the caribou was decapitated, the landing gear suffered no visible damage, the caribou was cleared from the runway, and the aircraft was able to land successfully without incident.

The caribou on the strip was one of many that have crossed the  airstrip in recent days while migrating. Thousands of caribou were shooed off of the runway last week by airport workers. This lone creature was probably a straggler from that group. 

No one aboard the Boeing 737, or crew on the ground were injured in the incident.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

  737, abort, Alaska, boeing, bp, caribou, conoco, deadhorse, decapitated, landing gear, North slope, strike