Piper PA-28-140 N5714F

Summary

On 1 September 2025 at about 01:15 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N5714F, operated by Piston Aviation, was involved in an accident near Pittsfield, Illinois, 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

1 September 2025 at 01:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Pittsfield, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Pittsfield Penstone Municipal (PPQ)

Coordinates

39.6389, -90.7786

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N5714F

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

Piston Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Saint Louis → Pittsfield

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN25LA353

Nobody was injured.

The collision with a deer during the aborted landing in night visual meteorological conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and the pilot-receiving-instruction were conducting a night landing in visual meteorological conditions when upon touchdown a deer ran across the runway ahead of the airplane. They aborted the landing due to insufficient distance to slow the airplane and avoid the deer. Shortly after liftoff, a second deer attempted to cross the runway and struck the front left side of the airplane. Without sufficient runway remaining to land, the flight instructor continued with the takeoff, entered the traffic pattern, and made an uneventful landing. The flight instructor did not report any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. The airplane’s left wing sustained substantial damage where it struck the deer. The publicly owned airport does not have wildlife fencing installed to exclude deer and other mammals, nor is it required to. The FAA Airport/Facility Directory does include a remark for deer and migratory waterfowl on and in the vicinity of the airport. According to FAA CertAlert No. 16-03, Recommended Wildlife Exclusion Fencing, the installation of a 10-foot-high fence with 3-strand barbed wire outriggers is the best way of keeping deer out of aircraft movement areas.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.