An Alaska Airlines flight collided with a stray deer as it came in to land at Sonoma County Airport last week, the airline said.
A rare occurrence in the US, the deer was struck and died instantly but the plane landed safely.
Despite what was a potentially catastrophic incident, passengers were ‘largely unaware of what happened,’ according to airline spokeswoman Bobbie Egan.
Egan said the plane was taken out of service for a full inspection and returned the following morning after damaged tyres were replaced.
There was no other damage to the Bombardier Q-400 turboprop.
Flight 457 had arrived from Seattle for a scheduled stop before continuing to Los Angeles.
Passengers were taken off the plane and re-accommodated on other aircraft, Egan said.
The incident also caused the cancellation of two later flights.
A similar incident took place in India at the weekend when a SpiceJet plane was forced into evasive action as it hit a herd of wild boar.
The plane careered off the runway but there were no injuries reported.
