This dramatic video shows a sea plane just missing a humpback whale as it just happens to be surfacing as the plane is about to touch down. This footage was captured in the remote village of Angoon, which is 35 miles southwest of Juneau, Alaska, by a San Diego businessman with his cell phone.
The pilot in the De Havilland Beaver was in a shallow descent and is about to land, but pulls up abruptly after a spray from the whale comes up in front of the aircraft. Apparently, the pilot didn’t see the spray, but was distracted by the onlookers waving and pulled up in time to avoid touching down on the whale. He had no idea he was about to land on a whale.
Whether the pilot didn’t see the spray directly on his flight path or not we’re not sure, as in the video it appears that the pilot pulls up just in time. Pilots on short final especially that close to the ground generally don’t look around – keeping their eyes on the touchdown zone carefully.
We assume he did see the spray and pulled up just in time to avoid the “obstacle.”
