- Date
- September 29, 2020, 18:40 local (22:40 UTC)
- Place
- Big Rapids, MI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N79300Cessna 172
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Wildlife encounter (non-bird)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200929012269A
- Case key
- 102083
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 airplane’s impact with a deer during takeoff.
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 instructor pilot reported that the pilot was taking off following a night touch and go landing when he and the pilot heard a loud thump and the airplane yawed strongly to the left. The instructor pilot took control of the airplane, continued the takeoff, brought the airplane back to the airport, and landed uneventfully. As the instructor pilot was taxiing the airplane to the ramp, both he and the pilot saw several deer adjacent to the runway. A postaccident examination revealed the airplane sustained substantial damage to the right horizontal stabilizer and elevator, and aft fuselage. The following morning a 100-pound deceased deer was found about 80 yards south of the departure runway. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The damage the airplane sustained was consistent with a deer strike.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N79300
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (K)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17258029
- Built
- 1969
- Airframe hours
- 4,412
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Majestic Air LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 10, 2020 · 104 hours before
- Destination
- 13C · Lakeview, MI
- Airport
- RQB · Roben Hood, runway 27, 4,300 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 7,000 total · 2,500 in this make and model · 120 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 45
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 800 total · 100 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- KFFX, 28 nm away
- METAR
- KFFX 292135Z AUTO 27010KT 10SM BKN025 BKN040 BKN050 13/08 A2979 RMK AO2 T01300078
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 1, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 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.