Penguin Of The Week

Reports of air crashes, lamentable as they are, do not normally capture my attention for more than a nano second but I was captivated by this report from the South African Civil Aviation Authority.

On January 19th a helicopter with its pilot and three passengers landed on Bird Island. For the return journey one of the passengers, described as a “specialist” placed a penguin from the island in a cardboard box and brought it on to the aircraft.

The passenger riding in the front seat of the helicopter held the box containing the penguin on his lap, securing it with his hands, but he lost his grip just after take-off and the box slid into the pilot’s cyclic pitch control lever.

The lever was pushed to the far-right position, causing the helicopter to roll to the right and strike the ground with its rotors.

The report said the helicopter, which landed on its side, “sustained serious damage, but no human or penguin passengers were harmed”.

“The lack of secure containment for the penguin created a dangerous situation. The absence of a proper, secured crate meant that the penguin’s containment was not suitable for the flight conditions,” the report said.

Moral of the story: never pick up a penguin!