- Date
- February 14, 2013, 19:10 local (Feb 15, 2013, 01:10 UTC)
- Place
- Murphysboro, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N95670Cessna 152
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern downwind: Birdstrike
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Not reported
- Status
- Completed · report May 9, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20130214001379A
- Case key
- 86265
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 encounter with birds while on the downwind leg in the traffic pattern.
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 was performing a night solo flight to practice some night landings. While on the downwind leg in the traffic pattern after his first takeoff, he saw a “flash” of four to six birds fly through his field of view from the bottom left to the top right of the airplane and subsequently heard a loud noise. He said that the impact lifted the right wing upward slightly and that he thought it was a bird strike. He landed the airplane without further incident. The next day, the pilot noticed substantial damage to the right wing.
Factual narrative
The pilot was performing a night solo flight to practice some night landings. While on downwind during his first traffic pattern, he saw a flash of four to six birds fly through his field of view from the bottom left to the top right of the airplane and subsequently heard a loud noise. He indicated that the impact lifted the right wing upward slightly and he thought it was a bird strike. He landed the airplane without further incident. The immediate postflight inspection of the airplane did not reveal any damage. However, substantial damage to the right wing was found the day after the accident flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N95670
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285957
- Airframe hours
- 11,953
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Southern Illinois University Board Of Trustees DBA
- Registered owner
- Southern Illinois University Board Of Trustees DBA
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 14, 2012
- Departed
- MDH · Murphysboro, IL
- Destination
- MDH · Murphysboro, IL
- Airport
- MDH · Southern Illinois Airport
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
- 20
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 10, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 142 total · 33 in this make and model · 44 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Not reported
- Wind
- 310° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- MDH, 1 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 7, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.4 MB 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.