- Date
- June 30, 2011, 05:53 local (11:53 UTC)
- Place
- Casper, WY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N59798Piper PA-31-350
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Birdstrike
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report October 4, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20110630011719A
- Case key
- 80952
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 at low altitude.
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 pilot stated he was landing and was approximately 5 to 10 feet from touchdown when a large bird hit and broke the front center windshield of his airplane. With the bird covering his entire windscreen the pilot reacted by quickly moving his body to the right to avoid the bird, which had penetrated the windscreen. Subsequently the airplane's left wing came into contact with the runway surface causing the airplane to nose into the ground, severely damaging the left wing, collapsing the left landing gear, and bending both propellers. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions of failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated he was landing on runway 21 and was approximately 5 to 10 feet from touchdown when a large bird hit and broke the front center windshield of his airplane. With the bird covering his entire windscreen the pilot reacted by quickly moving his body to the right to avoid the bird, which had penetrated the windscreen. Subsequently the airplane's left wing came into contact with the runway surface causing the airplane to nose into the ground, severely damaging the left wing, collapsing the left landing gear, and bending both propellers. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions of failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N59798
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31-350
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31-7652071
- Airframe hours
- 15,502
- Engines
- Lycoming TI0-540 SER, 310 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming TIO-540 SER, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Fowler Richard L
- Registered owner
- Fowler Richard L
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 12, 2011 · 47 hours before
- Departed
- BJC · Broomfield, CO
- Destination
- KCPR · Casper, WY
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- KCPR · Casper/Natrona County, runway 21, 10,165 × 150 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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 23,238 total · 12,100 in this make and model · 23,238 as pilot in command · 65 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- Variable at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
- Observed at
- KCPR, 12 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 22, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 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.