A small plane became a chimera of gore when its propellors sliced through a flock of birds, covering the aircraft in blood. Mark Schwantes, a 48-year-old big game hunter and commercial fishing captain, was preparing to board a small plane bound for the picturesque Anchorage, Alaska, on September 26. Just before takeoff, he spotted a flock of willow ptarmigan, the state bird of Alaska, he told SWNS.