- Date
- October 9, 2013, 19:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Onaway, MI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9757NCessna 310R
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Wildlife encounter (non-bird)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report February 3, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- FAA report
- 20131009019359A
- Case key
- 88337
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 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
The pilot reported that he was landing at a non-towered airport at night to drop off a passenger. During the landing flare just prior to touchdown, the pilot saw three deer run onto the runway out of his periphery. One of the deer ran on to the runway and was struck by the airplane's left main landing gear. The collision folded the left main gear aft and the left wing contacted the runway as the airplane touched down. The airplane slid down the runway and veered off the left side of the runway surface before coming to rest. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the left wing and aileron.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was landing at a non-towered airport at night to drop off a passenger. During the landing flare just prior to touchdown, the pilot saw three deer run onto the runway out of his periphery. One of the deer ran on to the runway and was struck by the airplane's left main landing gear. The collision folded the left main gear aft and the left wing contacted the runway as the airplane touched down. The airplane slid down the runway and veered off the left side of the runway surface before coming to rest. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the left wing and aileron.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9757N
- Reported as
- Cessna 310R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 310R1639
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 2,551
- Engines
- Continental TSIO-520-BB, 285 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental TSIO-520-BB, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 2013
- Departed
- OEB · Coldwater, MI
- Destination
- Y96 · Onaway, MI
- Airport
- Y96 · Leo E. Goetz County, runway 15, 2,600 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 50
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 19, 2013
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 8,240 total · 854 in this make and model · 8,116 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 28 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 180° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- KPZQ, 18 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 18, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 527 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.