- Date
- June 8, 2013, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Vinton, IA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N717JRStiegelmeyer John R Vans RV-7A
- Defining event
- Landing: Wildlife encounter (non-bird)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Des Moines FSDO
- FAA report
- 20130608025579A
- Case key
- 87152
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 collision with a deer during landing.
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
According to the pilot, during a day landing at a non-tower-controlled airport, the airplane had just touched down and was traveling at about 60 mph when the pilot saw four deer running across the runway. He reported that he had no time to react and could not avoid hitting one of the deer. The collision resulted in a rupture of the fuel cell in the wing, and substantial damage to the wing spar, engine compartment firewall, and lower fuselage.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, during a day landing at a non-tower-controlled airport, the airplane had just touched down and was traveling at about 60 mph when the pilot saw four deer running across the runway. He reported that he had no time to react and could not avoid hitting one of the deer. The collision resulted in a rupture of the fuel cell in the wing, and substantial damage to the wing spar, engine compartment firewall, and lower fuselage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N717JR
- Reported as
- Stiegelmeyer John R Vans RV-7A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 70938
- Airframe hours
- 167
- Engine
- Subaru ALL MDLS A/B, 400 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · September 1, 2012 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- IOW · Iowa City, IA
- Destination
- VTI · Vinton, IA
- Airport
- VTI · Vinton Veterans Memorial, runway 16, 2,500 × 60 ft, asphalt
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
- 71
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 17, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 17,800 total · 171 in this make and model · 4,671 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- KVTI
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 5, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 434 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.