- Date
- June 30, 2001, 09:00 local (13:00 UTC)
- Place
- Warrenton, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N25846Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 27, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO-21
- FAA report
- 20010630017669A
- Case key
- 52595
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 encounter with a deer during a touch and go.
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 a touch and go, as the student pilot rotated the airplane for takeoff, a deer struck the airplane's left horizontal stabilizer. The left horizontal stabilizer buckled, and the left elevator was torn-off. The student pilot continued the takeoff and performed an uneventful emergency landing in a field adjacent to the airport.
Factual narrative
On June 30, 2001, about 0900 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N25846, was substantially damaged during takeoff from the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport (W66), Warrenton, Virginia. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The student pilot stated he was practicing touch and go landings on runway 14, a 4,103 foot-long, asphalt runway. During a touch and go, as he rotated the airplane for takeoff, a deer struck the airplane's left horizontal stabilizer. The left horizontal stabilizer buckled, and the left elevator was torn-off. The student pilot continued the takeoff and performed an uneventful emergency landing in a field adjacent to W66.
The student pilot reported 39 hours of total flight experience, of which, 17 hours was in make and model.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N25846
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15280815
- Airframe hours
- 7,727
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Warrenton-Fauquier Flight Center
- Registered owner
- Ronald L. Gatewood
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 12, 2001 · 33 hours before
- Departed
- W66 · Warrenton, VA
- Airport
- W66 · Warrenton-Fauquier, runway 14, 4,103 × 60 ft, 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
- 18
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 39 total · 17 in this make and model · 11 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- HEF, 14 nm away
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 N25846 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.