Air Zim plane hits pigs on runway

An Air Zimbabwe plane headed from Harare to Bulawayo collided with 5 wild pigs on the runway on Tuesday the Transport Ministry has confirmed.

Minister Nicholas Goche issued a statement Thursday confirming the incident. He said the plane was damaged in the crash but all 34 passengers were evacuated safely.

 The plane’s undercarriage collapsed on impact and it veered off the runway, damaging the plane’s nose, one engine and the wing. Goche did not say what became of the pigs.

Goche did however say that the animals involved were warthogs, but Mervyn Senior, owner of Mbizi game park which adjoins the airfield, said it more likely the culprits were the smaller bushpig.

“There are no warthogs around here,” Senior said, adding bushpigs were a problem at airfields in wildlife areas. “You have to buzz the airfield two orthree times before you land,” he said.

So much for the saying  ‘when pigs fly’.