The week a flock of geese decided our hangar was their new runway

Last spring at the regional airport in Billings, we had a Cessna 172 come in for a full panel upgrade. We left the hangar door open for some ventilation while we ran cables. Next thing we know, about six Canada geese just waddle right in and set up camp under the wing. They would not leave. We tried everything gentle, waving arms, a broom, nothing. My lead tech, Frank, looks at me and goes, 'You know the manual for the Garmin G5, but you got a manual for goose removal?' We ended up having to call airport ops, who brought out this little cart with a loud horn. Took them 45 minutes to herd them out. We lost half a day. Ever had wildlife completely shut down your work bay?

4 comments

4 Comments

wadew512mo ago

Wait, they brought out a cart with a loud horn? That's a whole new level of airport ops I never knew existed. Sounds like a scene from a weird movie, not a Tuesday at the hangar. Losing half a day to geese is just unreal.

the_elliot2mo ago

Ever see @wadew51, that horn cart is pure chaos.

nancyn692mo ago

Had a raccoon family once that turned a wiring harness into their personal jungle gym.

murphy.mason1mo ago

Tbh that "personal jungle gym" line hits way too close to home. But here's something nobody has mentioned yet about the wiring harness thing - raccoons actually have really dexterous little hands, almost like human fingers. @wadew51 probably knows this from dealing with geese, but those raccoons can actually unclip connectors and pull wires out of looms on purpose. They're not just randomly messing with stuff, they're genuinely curious and smart enough to figure out how things come apart. Had a buddy in maintenance who found a nest made entirely of zip ties and electrical tape inside an engine cowling once. So that "jungle gym" might actually be more like a raccoon workshop where they're studying how to disable your plane for fun.