- Date
- October 19, 2004, 08:20 local (12:20 UTC)
- Place
- Valkaria, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N607FTPiper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20041019028249A
- Case key
- 60469
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 inadvertent collision with a deer during takeoff which resulted in damage to the right brake system and the airplane being unable to stop prior to the end of the runway.
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 stated that he was in the takeoff portion of the third touch-and-go, when a deer ran out from the infield and struck the right side of the airplane wing root area. He reduced engine power to idle and applied the brakes but the right brakes had failed. The airplane veered off the runway and came to stop at the departure end of runway 9 in the grass.
Factual narrative
On October 19, 2004, about 0820, eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-161, N6075FT registered to and operated by FIT Aviation LLC, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, struck a deer during takeoff on runway 14 at Valkaria Airport, Valkaria, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The private-rated pilot reported no injuries and the airplane incurred substantial damage. The flight originated from Melbourne International Airport, Melbourne, Florida, earlier that day, about 0800.
The pilot stated that he was in the takeoff portion of the third touch-and-go, when a deer ran out from the infield and struck the right side of the airplane wing root area. He reduced engine power to idle and applied the brakes but the right brakes had failed. The airplane veered off the runway and came to stop at the departure end of runway 9 in the grass.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N607FT
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2841215
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- FIT Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MLB · Melbourne, FL
- Destination
- X59 · Valkaria, FL
- Airport
- X59 · Valkaria, runway 14, asphalt
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
- 19
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 234 total · 105 in this make and model · 40 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- MLB
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N607FT · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.