- Date
- July 15, 2022, 20:30 UTC
- Place
- Brunswick, GA · Initial climb
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N400MXRaytheon 400A
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Birdstrike
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220715007109A
- Case key
- 105531
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
An in-flight collision with a bird.
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 reported that shortly after departure, during their initial climb, he heard a “thump” and suspected a bird strike. The crew did not experience any control issues or anomalous behavior initially but continued to troubleshoot. As they were approaching 10,000 ft mean sea level, they noticed that the cabin altitude was also approaching 10,000 ft, so they leveled off and determined that they had a pressurization problem. After conferring with their flight operations and maintenance department, they notified air traffic control and diverted to a suitable airport and landed safely. Upon subsequent inspection it was revealed that a bird had penetrated the right side of the nose under the first officer’s window. The impact ruptured the fuselage and resulted in substantial airframe damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N400MX
- Reported as
- Raytheon 400A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- RK-509
- Built
- 2007
- Engines
- P&W Canada JT15D-5R, turbo fanP&W Canada JT15D-5R, turbo fan
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Aircraft Mgt. Group, Inc
- Registered owner
- Rjb Management Company Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- BQK · Brunswick, GA
- Destination
- PIT · Pittsburgh, PA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- BQK · Brunswick Golden Isles
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Unknown
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 5-point
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 300° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 77 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- BQK
- METAR
- KBQK 160035Z AUTO 30005KT 10SM -RA BKN023 BKN027 BKN065 26/25 A3010 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT W T02600250
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 31, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.9 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.