Tourist plane carrying 30 people hits and kills zebra before dramatic emergency landing

A tourist plane carrying 30 people was filmed suffering a dramatic crash landing after striking a zebra on the runway.

The safari aircraft had struck the animal during takeoff in Tanzania, and was leaving from the Serengeti National Park at around 11.30am on Sunday (4 October).

The Sindbard Air flight was carrying 26 passengers and four crew members from the Seronera Airstrip when the collision happened, killing the zebra.

The Seronera Airstrip (Getty Images)

Seronera Airstrip is one of the main airstrips serving the Serengeti National Park and handles local flights carrying visitors to and from the reserve, with around 500,000 tourists visiting every year.

According to reports, the plane was heading towards Zanzibar when it developed problems with its landing gear with the crew forced to divert to Kilimanjaro International Airport.

The aircraft was a 1990-built Embraer EMB-120ER Brasilia, registered 5H-HLL, Aviation Safety Network records indicate.

Video footage posted widely online, including YouTube and X, then showed the damaged aircraft sliding along the runway as smoke plumes billowed from the plane.

It is not known whether the zebra strike directly impacted the problem or not.

Emergency crews then rushed to the aircraft following the landing, but all 26 passengers and four crew members were able to disembark safely without injuries, according to the according to Aviation Herald.

The aircraft however was reported to have sustained 'substantial damage.'

Tanzanian aviation authorities have since launched an investigation into the incident, while operations at Kilimanjaro International Airport were temporarily suspended due to the incident.

It will examine what caused the collision and whether the hit on take-off was responsible for the landing gear issues, as per the Tanzania Times.

Local reports suggested the airport resumed normal operations around 4:30pm East Africa Time following the dramatic landing.