........RAAF 707?

[Super Cecil]

Was it a RAAF 707 that cleaned up the buffalo? looked like it. Looked to be a lot of damage, nosewheel and mains by the sit on the runway.

[Buster Hyman]

Nope...732 being used by the Singaporeans I believe.
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/01/04/asia.quake/top.plane3.cn.jpg

[Wirraway]

The Press Association
Jan 4 2005

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200501/r38190_95728.jpg

Plane hits cows - airport closed

The main airport on Indonesia's tsunami-battered Sumatra island was closed after a relief plane hit a herd of cows, hampering the world's still-fragile efforts to get aid to victims of the disaster

Planes were grounded by the closure of the small airport in Banda Aceh, the main city on the island's northern tip. The flying was left to helicopters, mainly based on US Navy vessels anchored offshore, to drop food parcels.

No one was hurt when a Boeing 737 relief cargo plane hit cows after it landed at Banda Aceh airport, but the closure of the runway highlighted the vulnerability of the relief effort as waves of aid began pouring into Sumatra, where an estimated 100,000 people died.

"We've immediately closed the airport," said Adri Gunawan, head of air traffic control. "For the rest of the day, aid flights will be prevented from flying here. It's really bad."

The airport had been swamped with round-the-clock traffic, with dozens of aircraft delivering water, biscuits and medicine. It was to remain closed until authorities got heavy equipment to move the cargo plane.

============================================
Cow delays tsunami aid flights
17:59 AEDT Tue Jan 4 2005

Humanitarian relief efforts in stricken Aceh may be crippled for days after an aircraft hit a cow and crashed, closing the region's only operating airport to fixed wing aid flights.

The Boeing 737 cargo plane carrying aid touched down from Jakarta around 1am (0500 AEDT) on Tuesday morning and was turning when its left engine and undercarriage hit a cow that had strayed onto the runway from nearby fields.

The left side of the chartered TRI-MG Airlines jet collapsed, blocking the strip to all fixed-wing flights.

The commander of US navy relief operations, Captain Larry Burt, said the accident had dealt a serious blow to the global operation to bring humanitarian aid into the area worst hit by the December 26 earthquake and tsunami, where up to 100,000 are believed dead.

"You would never expect a cow to shut you down," he told AAP.

"Air is the only way we've got at the moment of getting (aid) in here.

"We're trying to find a way to shift it, but at the moment we don't have any real ideas."

Burt, who commands the air wing on the US navy carrier Abraham Lincoln stationed off Aceh's coast, said photos of the damaged airliner had been sent out to his ship.

Engineers there were trying to find a way to jack the damaged side of the plane up so its broken undercarriage could be welded into place and the aircraft could be rolled clear.

"We don't have anything here big enough to drag it," he said.

Australian air force ground crews were some of the first on the scene after the accident and unloaded medical and electrical equipment with a forklift.

"We've got the only real forklift here," Amberley based flying officer Carl Lorrigan said.

Burt said air operations staff were also trying to work out whether C-130 Hercules transports operated by the US, Australia, Singapore and Indonesia could still land on the 5,400 feet of runway still open behind the 737.

"But even then we have to work out a way to shift the cargo around the airliner to the helicopters to distribute," he said.

Three Australian Iroquois helicopters were due to arrive in Aceh from Medan.

©AAP 2005

Reuters

===========================================

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Salvage crews dragged a damaged Boeing 737 cargo jet off the runway at Banda Aceh airport on Tuesday, clearing the way for flights to resume bringing in relief aid for Indonesian quake and tsunami victims.

The airport serving the provincial capital of Aceh province, where most of Indonesia's more than 94,000 deaths from the Dec. 26 quake and tsunami occurred, was closed to fixed-wing aircraft after the chartered jet's left landing gear collapsed early on Tuesday, leaving it resting on one wing and engine.

A Reuters witness said a fork lift supported the wing as a tractor pulled the plane off the runway at about 5 p.m. (5 a.m. EST).

Helicopters had continued to fly in and out of the airport.

Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited.

===========================================

[SkySista]

This incident is also being discussedhere (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157817&highlight=Banda+Aceh+plane).

and also on the main tsunami thread in Jet Blast. Links to articles with the company who owns/operates the a/c...

[schnauzer]

What happened to the cow?:{ :{

[flying ginge]

Daisy is no longer with us....:{

[Capt Fathom]

Holy Cow .... ?

[SeldomFixit]

Now less than wholey, unfortunately :eek:

[woftam]

The chances of this happening again are medium to rare.
Well done to all concerned.
;)

[tinpis]

I heard the water buffalo walked away with a dented bell.

[Desert Flower]

Well I hope the silly cow was put to good use feeding some of the starving hordes!

DF.

[Ultralights]

hmmmm fresh tenderised beef! should go down a treat!