A Slow-Motion Emergency

The incident began when a flight instructor taxiing a Cessna 172 for a morning training session reported “multiple animals” on Taxiway Bravo. Within minutes, the airport’s operations center confirmed a herd of goats milling around the pavement and issued a ground stop.

“They weren’t running. They were just…loitering,” said Air Traffic Controller James Hsu, who was on duty in the tower. “One of them was standing squarely on the centerline like it owned the place.”

Hsu said he immediately notified approaching aircraft, including a Denver-bound regional jet on final approach, which executed a go-around and circled until it was diverted to a larger nearby airport.

Body camera footage from a responding sheriff’s deputy shows the animals standing calmly beneath the wing of a parked turboprop, nibbling at weeds poking through cracks in the asphalt.

“They were completely unfazed by the sirens,” Deputy Carla Mendes said. “You don’t usually have to negotiate with livestock when you’re securing a runway.”