A small plane struck a flock of birds on take off - leaving the body of the aircraft covered in blood splashes.<br /><br />Mark Schwantes, 48, was on board a bush plane travelling from a remote area in Alaska to Anchorage when the bird strike occurred (Sept 26).<br /><br />The plane was accelerating to take off when Mark spotted a flock of willow ptarmigan, Alaska's state bird, on the runway.<br /><br />But instead of flying away, the birds waited too long to take flight and were hit by one of the plane's propellers.
