Let’s have a moment of silence for this monster-sized gator that attempted greatness. The 11-foot, 500-pound, really huge alligator threw its half-ton reptile girth at a small plane as it landed at Orlando Executive Airport. As it lay on the runway, minding its own reptilian business, pilot Brad Pierce brought his plane down on top of the alligator.
“I was told the pilot was flying a Navajo and the gator jumped up and struck the wing during his landing. The gator was killed instantly and the aircraft sustained damage to the wing,” Pierce wrote in a Facebook post about his encounter with the alligator. So, the gator wasn’t just taking a nap and run over in its sleep, but took a chomp out of a plane wing. Ambitious, and brave, but not entirely successful.
According to ClickOrlando.com, the alligator was killed on impact, but the pilot walked away without injuries. His plane wasn’t so lucky, and sustained some damage—you don’t plow into a modern-day dinosaur and not get a dent in your fender.
-
Related Story: See It: 6 Unbelievable Alligator Attacks Caught on Camera
The majestic beast, however, did not live to bite another plane.
Alligator and airplane interactions in Florida are surprisingly rare, with the last battle royale happening in 2013.
It all sounds like a scene from Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus:
