What happened
On 3 August 2010, a Beech 58, registration ZS-MZA, was involved in a serious incident at Kimberley Aerodrome. The aircraft, operated for private use, had arrived from Lanseria Aerodrome and had successfully landed on runway 20. Following instructions from air traffic control to vacate the runway via a left turn onto runway 10, the pilot began taxiing toward the general aviation parking area.
During the taxi, the pilot spotted an aardvark in the aircraft's landing light beam on the right side of the taxiway. In an immediate attempt to avoid the animal, the pilot steered the aircraft to the left. However, the animal ran into the right propeller of the aircraft. The pilot promptly halted the aircraft, shut down the engines, and notified air traffic control. While there were no injuries to the pilot, the animal was killed upon impact.
The investigation
An investigation by the SACAA AIID established that the collision caused significant damage to the engine and the right propeller. The aircraft was removed from service to undergo a shock load inspection of the engine and a propeller replacement.
Investigators noted that this was not an isolated event at the aerodrome; a Dash 8-300 had experienced a similar collision with an aardvark just 18 days prior. The inquiry also examined the aerodrome's wildlife management protocols, noting that while inspections were conducted, recent sightings of wild animals had been recorded on the property. Furthermore, it was discovered that the aerodrome's operations manual regarding wildlife hazards was awaiting official management approval and had not been updated since 2007.