- Date
- July 27, 2005, 21:50 local (Jul 28, 2005, 01:50 UTC)
- Place
- Stow, MA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N28860Grumman American AA-5B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report October 27, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20050728022479A
- Case key
- 62017
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 inadvertent collision with a deer during the landing roll. A factor was the night lighting conditions.
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
During the night landing rollout, the pilot observed a deer running toward the runway from left to right. Shortly thereafter, the left wing struck the deer, resulting in substantial damage.
Factual narrative
On July 27, 2005, about 2150 eastern daylight time, a Grumman American AA-5B, N28860, was substantially damaged when it struck a deer while landing at Minute Man Air Field (6B6), Stow, Massachusetts. The certificated commercial pilot and passenger were not injured. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, which departed Buffalo-Lancaster Airport (BQR), Lancaster, New York, about 1915.
According to a written statement submitted by the pilot, the airplane touched down about 500 feet from the approach end of runway 21. About 2 - 4 seconds later, the pilot saw a brown and white deer bounding toward the runway, from left to right. The pilot yelled out, "Deer!", then lost sight of it. She thought that it may have run behind the airplane, but subsequently felt a left "pull" on the rudder pedals. The airplane continued straight, and the subsequent rollout and taxi were uneventful.
After parking the airplane, examination revealed that the left wing had incurred substantial damage. The pilot and her passenger subsequently drove their automobile up and down the runway, but could not find the deer.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N28860
- Reported as
- Grumman American AA-5B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA5B-0567
- Engine
- Lycoming 0-360-A4K, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Departed
- BQR · Lancaster, NY
- Destination
- 6B6 · Stow, MA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- 6B6 · Minute Man Air Field, runway 21
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 1,818 total · 260 in this make and model · 13 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.