- Date
- April 11, 2010, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Middlefield, OH
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6314PPiper PA-24-180
- Defining event
- Enroute-descent: Birdstrike
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 12, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Cleveland FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100411031429A
- Case key
- 75756
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The inadvertent in-flight collision with a bird.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that the airplane collided with an eagle during cruise flight while descending through 2,700 feet. After the bird strike, he diverted to a nearby airport and made an uneventful landing. A postaccident inspection revealed that the airplane had received substantial damage to the engine firewall and right cockpit windshield. All observed damage was consistent with the airplane colliding with a bird while in flight.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that the airplane collided with an eagle while descending through 2,700 feet. After the bird strike, he diverted to a nearby airport and made an uneventful landing. A postaccident inspection revealed that the airplane had received substantial damage to the engine firewall and right cockpit windshield. All observed damage was consistent with the airplane colliding with a bird while in flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6314P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-1424
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KLNN · Willoughby, OH
- Destination
- Middlefield, OH
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 20, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 845 total · 490 in this make and model · 773 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.34 inHg
- Observed at
- KCGF, 19 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 25, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.