- Date
- May 17, 2012, 13:20 local (18:20 UTC)
- Place
- Pipe Creek, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N625JSShiver Tailwind W-10
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 29, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20120517009199A
- Case key
- 83793
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 inadvertent collision with a deer during takeoff and the airplane’s subsequent departure from the runway and impact with a tree.
Findings · 2
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 as the airplane had accelerated to lift-off speed a deer appeared directly in front of the propeller. The airplane struck the deer and veered left. The airplane's left wing was substantially damaged when it subsequently impacted a tree. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions of the airplane before the deer strike.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that as the airplane was accelerating to lift off speed during takeoff when a deer appeared directly in front of the propeller. The airplane struck the deer and then the airplane drifted left. The airplane's left wing subsequently impacted a tree where it sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions of the airplane prior to the deer strike.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N625JS
- Reported as
- Shiver Tailwind W-10
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- JS 466
- Airframe hours
- 977.3
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pilot
- Registered owner
- Pilot
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · February 26, 2012
- Departed
- TA66 · Pipe Creek, TX
- Destination
- TA66 · Pipe Creek, TX
- Airport
- TA66 · Freedom Springs Ranch Airport, runway 05, 2,100 × 100 ft, dirt
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 22, 2012
- Flight hours
- 838 total · 390 in this make and model · 663 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- ERV
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 5, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 972 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.
Other investigations on N625JS · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.