Whale Vs Pontoon Plane: Viral Video Shows Seaplane Almost Landing Atop A Whale!
Planes usually have nothing to do with whales – under normal circumstances that is. However, if you happen to be piloting a Pontoon plane – you know, the kind of aircraft that that can take-off from and land on water, there is a one in a billion chance that you might almost land on top of a surfacing whale. And that is exactly what happened in a remote island off the Alaskan coast when a small pontoon plane narrowly missed landing atop a humpback whale. The best part? The entire action was shot by an onlooker using a cellphone camera. And as you might have expected, the footage that was uploaded to YouTube, went viral, reports The Toronto Sun.
The incident happened near the island of Angoon, located around 21 miles from the Alaskan capital, Juneau. Filmed by a person named Thomas Hamm, the video titled “Whale vs Pontoon Plane” shows the pontoon plane making a normal approach towards the narrow bay. It looks like any other pontoon plane landing until at around the 39 second mark, you see a geyser of water arising from the surface. In the same instance, you see the pilot taking evasive action. The pontoon plane almost aborts the landing and gains slight altitude before landing again.
Thomas Hamm who is a businessman, originally from San Diego, was in the remote village of Angoon with a few others when the dramatic incident unfolded before their eyes. Hamm later told mediapersons about the actual experience of being there when it happened.
“The guy I was with on the dock looked at me and said, ‘Tell me you got that?’,” Hamm said.
There were also a few expletives mentioned in the video as you could hear in the background. But then that can be excused, right? Afterall, it’s not everyday that you witness a Pontoon plane almost landing on the back of a humpback whale! Thomas Hamm was all praises for the pilot of the small Pontoon plane as he showed amazing presence of mind in taking evasive action and prevent injury to the whale.
“I played it back and there was the plane and the whale… These guys who fly in Alaska, let me tell you, they are good.”
The video was uploaded on July 10, 2014 and has amassed over 450,000 views already!
[Image Via YouTube]
