Jack Hanna, flamingo trapped in airport turnstile

[helderheid]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Animal expert Jack Hanna and an 11-month-old flamingo became trapped while trying to squeeze through an airport security turnstile. It took firefighters to finally get the flamingo out.

Hanna, the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and a frequent guest on nationally televised talk shows, was returning from a zoo fundraiser with a mongoose, a small leopard and the flamingo. Three other people were with them.

The entourage arrived at the Ohio State University Airport just after midnight Sunday to find the terminal closed. The only way to leave the tarmac was through a 10-foot-tall metal turnstile with several horizontal bars -- not the easiest exit to squeeze through when you're traveling with boxed-up animals, Hanna said.

"I never thought about the crate being square and the turnstile being round," he said.

Hanna, 60, pushed the flamingo's 2-foot-by-3-foot compartment into the turnstile, then continued pushing while straddling the crate.

"I was stuck like a worm. My eyes were as big as grapefruits," he said. "I can't describe the feeling in my stomach. I can't move up or down. The bars are on your face."

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http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/17/flamingo.stuck.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[babylonsister]

1. Bwahahaha! We need pictures! nt

[Maccagirl]

2. I live in Columbus and Jack is a jewel

He is always so great on Letterman, and treated my nephew like gold when they met.

[Toucano]

5. Jack's cool.

I wish he'd come out already, though.

[Riktor]

9. How is the Columbus Zoo?

I was born in Oxford and all of my extended family lives in Middletown (Butler County), so I have been to the Cincinnati Zoo a number of times, but never made it to the Columbus Zoo. How does it compare?

I just moved to San Diego a couple of months ago, and the first thing my wife and I did was run out and get full memberships to the San Diego Zoo. It's simply incredible.

[RavensChick]

3. Ouch!

I hope he's okay. Those turnstiles hurt like shit, no matter if you're in an airport or subway.

[Rick Myers]

4. Jack Hanna is a hoot! I guess the 'goofy' thing isn't an act!

Good thing the zoo has people travel with him!!!

We DO need a photo of that situation!!!

[northzax]

6. so, a leopard, mongoose and flamingo walk into an airport...

oh man, this stuff writes itself!

[TomInTib]

7. Happened to me in a subway turnstile.

I was carrying two guitars in their cases.

When I saw those full-length turnstiles, I knew that I was in trouble.

Someone behind me offered to carry one thru.

"Like Hell", I thought.

I still can feel how ridiculous the whole thing felt - jammed into that space with nowhere to go.

[Rick Myers]

8. Sounds like the beginning of a joke...

So, Jack Hanna and a flamingo are trapped in a turnstile...

[lonestarnot]

10. OMG.

Animals in a box.

[DS1]

11. was he setting up a nightclub in the bathroom?

[AlCzervik]

12. -----

[MuseRider]

13. Bwahahaha!

This could only happen to Jack Hanna! He kills me. I have always loved the guy, he just seems to be a kind man and very funny even if often it is unintentional. I can just picture this.

[Beaverhausen]

14. Oh god, the poor flamingo was probably freaked out

of course, the ride on the plane was no picnic for it, either.

[tridim]

15. Jack has been cracking me up since the early days of Letterman

I don't think his "act" is an act either, which makes him even more hilarious.