Jack Hanna, flamingo get trapped in turnstile at Ohio State airport

COLUMBUS (AP) — Animal expert Jack Hanna and an 11-month-old flamingo became trapped while trying to squeeze through an airport security turnstile, a situation that required the help of local firefighters.

Hanna, the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and a frequent guest on nationally televised talk shows, was in Davenport, Iowa, for a zoo fundraiser, along with three other people, a mongoose, a small leopard and the flamingo.

The entourage returned to 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. No one’s laughing.”

Hanna eventually squirmed free, leaving the flamingo still wedged inside and everyone else trapped on the tarmac. He then walked to a nearby local fire station to get help.

Columbus fire department logs show the firefighters arrived at the airport at 12:30 a.m. for a “flamingo rescue,” spokeswoman Kelly McGuire said.

It took three firefighters to hoist the flamingo’s crate up and out of the turnstile, Hanna said.

Hanna joked that the next time he flies through the airport, the biggest animal he’ll bring is a gerbil.