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Passengers stranded after Alaska Airlines jet hits deer on the Kodiak runway

Alaska Airlines plane sits on the runway in Kodiak in 2023.
Kirsten Dobroth
/
KMXT
An Alaska Airlines plane sits on the runway in Kodiak in 2023.

Multiple flights to and from Kodiak were canceled on Thursday after an Alaska Airlines plane hit more than one deer on the runway while landing.

According to a spokesperson for the airline, Tim Thompson, Alaska Airlines flight 231 was arriving in Kodiak from Anchorage at around 8 a.m. Thursday when it struck at least two deer that were crossing in front of the plane.

No one was injured during the collision, but inspectors did find damage to the aircraft's main landing gear, which requires the plane to remain in Kodiak until it can be repaired.

All of the airline's remaining passenger flights for the day were canceled, along with Friday morning's flight at 7 a.m. from Kodiak to Anchorage. Thompson said via email that affected guests are being rebooked, and the airline apologizes for the inconvenience.

One of those passengers was Daniel Smith. He said the cancellations meant he wouldn't be taking a planned trip on his birthday.

“I was supposed to travel to the [Mat-Su] Valley and then going to Kasilof," he said. "We’re just going to have to cancel the entire trip.”

During the summer months, Alaska Airlines typically flies from Kodiak to Anchorage three times a day.

Regional air carrier Island Air, which shares Kodiak's runway with Alaska Airlines' passenger and cargo planes, continued its normal flight schedule on Thursday. But an Island Air employee told KMXT that the carrier had seen a surge of charter flights booked that day as a result of the Alaska Airlines cancellations.

Copyright 2025 KMXT

Davis Hovey has been reporting in Alaska for nearly a decade and currently works at KMXT in Kodiak. Hovey was born and raised in Virginia. He spent most of his childhood in rural Virginia just outside of Charlottesville where University of Virginia is located. Hovey was drawn in by the opportunity to work for a radio station in a remote, unique place like Nome, Alaska. Hovey went to Syracuse University, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Broadcast Digital Journalism.