- Date
- March 30, 1994, 20:30 local (Mar 31, 1994, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Charlotte, MI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7581VCessna 177RG
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940330009489A
- Case key
- 9499
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 deer which ran onto the runway. Factors related to the accident were the night conditions and the runway lights which were contacted.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot veered the airplane to the left side of the runway during a landing roll, in an attempt to avoid two deer which ran across the runway. In doing so, the left stabilizer and propeller contacted two runway edge lights.
Factual narrative
On March 30, 1994, at 2030 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 177RG, N7581V, operated by Arthur R. LeBlanc, collided with two runway lights on landing at the Fitch H. Beach Airport, Charlotte, Michigan, while on a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The flight originated from Bluffton, Ohio, on March 30, 1994, at 1930.
The pilot reported that during the landing roll two deer ran across the runway in front of the airplane. He veered the airplane to the left in an attempt to miss the deer. The left side of the horizontal stabilizer was substantially damaged when it along with the propeller contacted two runway edge lights.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7581V
- Reported as
- Cessna 177RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 177RG0872
- Airframe hours
- 2,144
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Arthur R. Leblanc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 6, 1993 · 51 hours before
- Departed
- 5G7 · Bluffton, OH
- Airport
- 07G · Fitch Beach, runway 20, 3,500 × 75 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
- 62
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,100 total · 116 in this make and model · 20 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 270° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 28 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAN, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.