- Date
- July 11, 2024, 20:35 local (Jul 12, 2024, 03:35 UTC)
- Place
- Lakeport, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N4443XPiper PA-28R-200
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- Case key
- 194699
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
A collision with a deer during takeoff.
Findings · 2
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 reported that during a nighttime takeoff, the airplane struck a deer on the runway, which severed the left main landing gear. Subsequently, the left main landing gear impacted the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer, which resulted in substantial damage. The pilot continued the takeoff, declared an emergency, and flew to a suitable airport before they landed uneventfully.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4443X
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-7635044
- Built
- 1975
- Airframe hours
- 12,545
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-C1C, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Mach 5 Aviation, Inc
- Registered owner
- Fox Two LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 19, 2024
- Departed
- 1O2 · Lampson, CA
- Destination
- Auburn, CA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- SMF · Sacramento Intl, runway 17R/35L, 8,598 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 11, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 421 total · 105 in this make and model · 421 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 85 °F
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 21, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.9 MB in all.