Clickbait! But not really.
An 11 foot, 500 pound alligator crossing runway 7/25 at Orlando Executive airport was hit and instantly killed around 2:15 AM on June 1st by a small plane landing. The gator had jumped up and got killed by the wing. The pilot was unharmed.
According to this map of the airport, there are 2 moderate sized lakes surrounding the airport, the gator likely came from one of them and was searching for a midnight snack.
Lake Underhill is literally next to the runway. Was not surprised reading this last night (Orlando local). There’s also been a partial body recovered from that same lake, doesn’t surprise me a big gator was in it.
What’s more alarming is how popular that southern lake is for boating and fishing. There are not fences along that southern lake and the airfield so it is very easy to gain access for someone of something at that southern lake.
Well the lake pretty much provides security, if someone wanted to use that to gain access to the airport they probably wouldn’t make it out of that lake alive
You would think they would at least fence off the portion of the lake near the runway. It’s not like you don’t know there’s gators in there. An 11-foot alligator doesn’t just go unnoticed and in my opinion that’s a huge safety hazard to a small airplane
That southern lake is popular for jetskiing. When I use to work downt town Orlando I would drive over that bridge and would see once a week people jetskiing in the lake. Orlando Executive is used more for private flying but a lot of corporate jets land there.
The area surrounding the lake is like a big park almost. Plenty of people always out exercising or (as USA007 pointed out) used for boating. There’s even a jetty to load watercraft. I honestly never wondered why the other side isn’t blocked off by a fence. I’ve seen people ski from one side of the bridge to the next.
And you’d be suprised how well gators can hide. Especially considering they blend well with the dark colored water and can hold their breath for quite a while. A good thing to live by down here is just to simply stay out of fresh water. Even the Springs are loaded with them. Kayaking can be pretty sketchy at times 😅