- Date
- December 11, 2024, 20:00 local (Dec 12, 2024, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Jefferson, GA · Airport runway
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N885GTCessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-aborted after touchdown: Wildlife encounter (non-bird)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- 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
- 20241211021169A
- Case key
- 199429
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 collision with a deer on the runway during landing.
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 flight instructor stated that after completion of a night practice instrument approach, they continued to the runway to perform a touch-and-go landing. As the main landing gear touched down on the runway, three deer ran in front of the airplane. The flight crew aborted the landing and then heard a loud “bang” when the airplane’s nose landing gear struck one of the deer as the airplane ascended. The underside of the fuselage was substantially damaged as a result of the collision. The pilot continued the departure, notified air traffic control, and landed at an alternate airport without further incident. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N885GT
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (S)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S9601
- Built
- 2004
- Airframe hours
- 9,933.7
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Yellow Jacket Flying Club Inc
- Registered owner
- Yellow Jacket Flying Club Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 5, 2024 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- PDK · Atlanta, GA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- JCA · Jackson County, runway 35, 5,010 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 19, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 158 total · 158 in this make and model · 98 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 25, 2024
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 396 total · 374 in this make and model · 361 as pilot in command · 55 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 270° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- GVL, 15 nm away
- METAR
- KGVL 120053Z AUTO 27007KT 10SM CLR 04/M04 A3015 RMK AO2 SLP209 T00391039
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 3, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.4 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.