Unsecured Penguin Causes Helicopter Crash After Hitting Pilot’s Controls in Freak Accident

A penguin was reportedly the cause of a helicopter crash in South Africa.

According to the BBC and U.K. newspaper The Telegraph, a report by the South African Civil Aviation Authority stated that the unsecured bird, which had been put in a cardboard box, slipped off a passenger’s lap and hit the pilot’s controls on Jan. 19.

The crash occurred just after take off from Bird Island in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, per the BBC.

According to NBC News, the helicopter was about 50 feet into the air when “the cardboard box slid off to the right and onto the pilot’s cyclic pitch control lever.”

The helicopter then rolled before its rotor blades hit the ground and it crashed on its right side.

PEOPLE has contacted the South African Civil Aviation Authority for comment.