A Sindbard Air Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia carrying 30 people made an emergency belly landing at Kilimanjaro International Airport after a reported zebra strike during takeoff from Seronera Airstrip in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. The aircraft, registered 5H-HLL, had been operating the safari route to Zanzibar when the crew diverted following a landing-gear problem.
All 26 passengers and four crew members escaped without injury, while the zebra was killed in the collision. Kilimanjaro International Airport closed for about five hours as crews removed the aircraft and restored runway operations. Tanzanian accident investigators have opened an inquiry into the incident, with local reporting indicating the cause of the landing-gear failure has not yet been fully confirmed.