- Date
- November 26, 2025, 11:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Bristow, OK
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N251LMLou Malinchak Titan T-51D
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Wildlife encounter (non-bird)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 12, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, Will Rogers FSDO
- FAA report
- 20251126017409A
- Case key
- 202077
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 collision with two deer during takeoff which resulted in a loss of control and impact with terrain.
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 initiating a takeoff from his private airstrip when he saw two deer off the right wing. He then felt a thump at the right main landing gear and heard a thud near the right wing root. The airplane pitched aggressively nose down and rolled right. The pilot applied corrective control inputs and reduced engine power, which enabled him to return the airplane onto the runway surface, but the airplane was in a 40o left turn relative to the runway centerline. The airplane veered off the runway and struck trees resulting in substantial damage to the left wing. There were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N251LM
- Reported as
- Lou Malinchak Titan T-51D
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- M07SV6S0HK0127
- Built
- 2015
- Airframe hours
- 115
- Engine
- Suzuki H27ANA, 183 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · November 1, 2025
- Airport
- OK69 · Malinchak Private Airport, runway 5, 2,400 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator, Electronic primary flight display, ADS-B
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
- 62
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 25, 2025
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 15,592 total · 145 in this make and model · 9,328 as pilot in command · 38 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 25.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CQB, 19 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 12, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 165 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.