Piper PA28 N9247V

Summary

On 19 October 2010 at about 00:47 local time, a Piper PA28 registered N9247V, operated by Flightsafety International, was involved in an accident near Titusville, Florida, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 October 2010 at 00:47

Classification

Accident

Location

Titusville, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Space Coast Regional Airport (TIX)

Coordinates

28.5089, -80.7928

Aircraft

Piper PA28

Registration

N9247V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Flightsafety International

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Vero Beach → Vero Beach

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA11CA027

Nobody was injured.

An inadvertent collision with a deer during a night takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the certificated flight instructor (CFI), the purpose of the flight was for the student pilot to perform a night cross-country. After completing a full stop landing at the destination airport, they taxied back to the runway to complete additional practice of flying in the traffic pattern. While on the takeoff roll, as the student pilot began to rotate the airplane airborne, the CFI observed an animal directly in front of the airplane on the centerline. He took authority of the flight controls in an attempt to not collide with animal as the airplane began the initial climb. He heard a "bang" as the airplane passed over what was later identified as a deer. The CFI then noticed the left rudder pedal was looser than normal and no brake pressure was observed in the left toe brake. After a few low passes and confirmation from the control tower personnel that the left landing gear was not in the normal position, the CFI decided to land the airplane. During landing rollout, the left wing struck the ground and the airplane came to rest on the runway. The postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the left landing gear had separated, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing spar. According to the CFI, no mechanical anomalies were present prior to hitting the deer.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.