Zebra strike on takeoff forces safari aircraft to land at Kilimanjaro

An Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia flying from Seronera Airstrip to Zanzibar landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport on October 4, 2026, after the crew reported hitting an animal during departure from Serengeti National Park.

The 26 passengers and four crew on board left the aircraft unhurt. The landing gear could not be fully extended, and the pilots chose Kilimanjaro as the diversion airfield. Video shared by The Tanzania Times showed the aircraft sliding along the runway.

An airports authority statement cited by the same publication referred to a "hoofed animal" struck as the plane left. Local accounts said the animal was a zebra and that it died. Accounts vary on whether one or both of the main landing gear assemblies failed to extend.

Registered 5H-HLL, the aircraft was left with substantial damage. The runway stayed shut for roughly five hours while the wreckage was removed, with operations restarting at 16:30 local time.

News outlets named the carrier as Sindbard Air, which is based in Zanzibar. Tanzania's civil aircraft register instead records the operator as Angelic Handlers Company Limited and lists South Sudan's Ministry of Interior as owner. Tanzanian investigators have begun an inquiry.