Cessna 414 N39HC

Summary

On 3 September 2025 at about 15:44 local time, a Cessna 414 registered N39HC was involved in an accident near New Braunfels, Texas, United States. 2 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

3 September 2025 at 15:44

Classification

Accident

Location

New Braunfels, Texas, United States

Coordinates

29.7080, -98.1300

Aircraft

Cessna 414

Registration

N39HC

Category

Airplane

Year built

1973

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Antonio → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN25LA362

Nobody was injured.

A in-flight collision with a bird during the descent for landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was about 4 miles from the destination airport in a descent to land when the airplane struck a bird. The pilot landed the airplane without incident and substantial damage was found to the right wing. Remains from the birds were submitted to the Smithsonian Institute and were found to belong to a black vulture (coragyps atratus). The average weight of a black vulture is reported to be between 3.5 and 6.6 lbs. Data archived by birdcast.info, showed bird activity at the time of the accident was between medium and high. In addition, data from usahas.com, the U.S. Air Force avian hazard advisory system, showed that the bird strike risk was severe near the collision area.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.