- Date
- October 4, 2004, 14:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- San Jose, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N24373Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20041004025689A
- Case key
- 60295
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.
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 airplane was on the downwind leg for landing runway 31L when a bird collided with its right wing. During an instructional local flight, the tower controller cleared the certified flight instructor (CFI) and the student to land. While abeam the numbers, a bird collided with the airplane's right wing. The CFI stated that neither he nor the student saw what kind of bird it was. They only saw a flash of the bird's wing. The CFI could tell that there was damage to the right wing, but the airplane appeared to be controllable. The CFI took control of the airplane and landed on runway 31L. After landing and clearing the runway they informed the tower of the bird strike. The damage to the leading edge of the right wing was approximately 2 feet across with about 8 to 12 inches of crushing on the longitudinal axes of the wing.
Factual narrative
On October 4, 2004, about 1430 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 152, N24373, while flying in the pattern on the downwind leg, collided with a suspected bird at Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County (RHV), San Jose, California. California In Nice, Inc., was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The certified flight instructor (CFI) pilot and the student pilot undergoing instruction (PUI) were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The local instructional flight departed RHV about 1320. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The CFI reported that while flying on the downwind leg for landing on runway 31L at RHV, after the tower controller cleared them to land and while abeam the numbers, a bird collided with the airplane's right wing. The CFI stated that neither he nor the PUI saw what kind of bird it was. They only saw a flash of the bird's wing. The CFI could tell that there was damage to the right wing, but the airplane appeared to be controllable. The CFI took control of the airplane and landed on runway 31L. After landing and clearing the runway they informed the tower of the bird strike.
The damage to the leading edge of the right wing was approximately 2 feet across with about 8 to 12 inches of crushing on the longitudinal axes of the wing.
The pilot stated that the airplane had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight, or prior to the collision.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N24373
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15280240
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- California In Nice Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Departed
- RHV · San Jose, CA
- Destination
- RHV · San Jose, CA
- Airport
- RHV · Reid-Hillview Airport, runway 31L
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
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 36
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 1,222 total · 771 in this make and model · 170 in the last 90 days · 62 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.