20260306003799I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-28-181 · Sanford, FL · March 6, 2026

Date
March 6, 2026 · 17:40 local
Place
Sanford, FL
Phase of flight
Takeoff: Rotation
Operating rules
Pilot school (Part 141)
Operator
CE8S
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N697LH
NTSB investigation
NTSBERA26LA149
Reported as
Piper PA-28-181
Reported engine
Lycoming IO-360-B4A
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Airline transport
Pilot’s flight hours
1,570 total

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Struck a bird departing runway 9R and returned to airport immediatly and landed safely.

As the FAA filed it

STRUCK A BIRD DEPARTING RUNWAY 9R AND RETURNED TO AIRPORT IMMEDIATLY AND LANDED SAFELY.

NTSB investigation

The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.