- Date
- June 24, 2005, 10:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Fe, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N84RWCampbell Long EZ
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20050624011829A
- Case key
- 61814
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 inflight collision with a bird(s).
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 was cruising at 120 knots at 9,500 feet msl when a bird struck his airplane. The impact separated the propeller blades at midspan. One or both blades struck the trailing edge of the right aileron, bounced off, then hit the right vertical stabilizer, which also separated in flight. The pilot made an uneventful emergency landing.
Factual narrative
On June 24, 2005, about 1000 mountain daylight time, a Campbell Long EZ, N84RW, piloted by a private pilot, was substantially damaged when it collided with a bird while in cruise flight approximately 5 miles west of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal cross-country flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant aboard, was not injured. The flight originated at Double Eagle Airport (AEG), Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was en route to Los Alamos (LAM), New Mexico.
According to the pilot, he was cruising at 120 knots at 9,500 feet msl when he struck a bird. The impact separated the propeller blades at midspan. One or both blades then struck the trailing edge of the right aileron, bounced off, then hit the right vertical stabilizer, which also separated in flight. The pilot made an uneventful emergency landing at Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N84RW
- Reported as
- Campbell Long EZ
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 997
- Airframe hours
- 1,700
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · November 1, 2004 · 200 hours before
- Departed
- AEG · Albuquerque, NM
- Destination
- LAM · Los Alamos, NM
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
- 35
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 1, 2003
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,040 total · 900 in this make and model · 1,040 as pilot in command · 75 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- SAF
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.