- Date
- June 10, 2011, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N70TPBeech F33A
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Birdstrike
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 19, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110610011259A
- Case key
- 80776
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
An in-flight collision with a bird during initial climb.
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 had just departed and was about 13 miles from the airport when he saw a large bird pass by the passenger side windshield. He did not feel or hear it strike the airplane, but within a few minutes of seeing the bird he began to smell a foul odor. The pilot visually confirmed that the bird had struck the leading edge of the right horizontal stabilizer causing substantial damage. The pilot made a 180-degree turn and landed uneventfully back at the departure airport.
Factual narrative
The pilot had just departed and was about 13 miles from the airport when he saw a large bird pass by the passenger side windshield. He did not feel or hear it strike the airplane, but within a few minutes of seeing the bird he began to smell a foul odor. The pilot visually confirmed that the bird had struck the leading edge of the right horizontal stabilizer causing substantial damage. The pilot made a 180 degree turn and landed uneventfully back at the departure airport.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N70TP
- Reported as
- Beech F33A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- CE-1153
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO 520 SERIES, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Perry Thomas R Jr
- Registered owner
- Perry Thomas R Jr
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Houston, TX
- Destination
- Livingston, TX
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
- 61
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 1,000 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 1, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 335 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.