- Date
- July 19, 2014, 22:30 local (Jul 20, 2014, 03:30 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Worth, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1694TPiper PA 28-140
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report September 24, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20140720017189A
- Case key
- 89701
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 pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing. Contributing to the accident was the deer on the runway and the pilot's mismanagement of airspeed which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
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
According to the pilot, after landing, at night and during the rollout, he noticed a deer on the runway about 70-80 feet in front of the airplane. The engine was at idle and the carburetor heat was on, but he pulled back on the controls to climb over the deer. The airplane stalled about 10 feet above the runway, impacted the runway, and then bounced a couple times before the nose landing gear separated from the airplane. The airplane then nosed over, coming to rest inverted in the grass next to the runway. After several hours, the pilot was able to free himself from the airplane and drove him and the passenger home. An ambulance then took them to the local hospital. The airplane was noticed by the control tower operator, the following morning. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and right wing.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, after landing, at night and during the rollout, he noticed a deer on the runway about 70-80 feet in front of the airplane. The engine was at idle and the carburetor heat was on, but he pulled back on the controls to climb over the deer. The airplane stalled about 10 feet above the runway, impacted the runway, and then bounced a couple times before the nose landing gear separated from the airplane. The airplane then nosed over, coming to rest inverted in the grass next to the runway. After several hours, the pilot was able to free himself from the airplane and drove him and the passenger home. An ambulance then took them to the local hospital. The airplane was noticed by the control tower operator, the following morning. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and right wing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1694T
- Reported as
- Piper PA 28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7125011
- Built
- 1970
- Engine
- Lycoming 0-320 SERIES, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KFWS · Fort Worth, TX
- Destination
- KFWS · Fort Worth, TX
- Airport
- KFWS · Fort Worth Spinks, runway 35, 6,002 × 100 ft
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
- 60
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KFWS
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 9, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 129 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.