The CFI and student pilot had completed the first leg of a night cross country flight and were departing back to their home airport.
During the takeoff roll at the airport in Saluda, S.C., a deer ran onto the runway, colliding with the Piper PA-28-140’s right wing.
The CFI assumed control of the airplane from the student and continued the takeoff, as inadequate runway distance remained to abort.
Once airborne, the CFI did not note any flight control abnormalities, and elected to continue to the destination, where he landed the airplane without incident.
Post-accident examination revealed substantial damage to the right wing.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as an inadvertent encounter with a deer during the takeoff roll.
NTSB Identification: ERA14CA172
This February 2014 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Ok, so it’s a night cross country flight. Surely one of them brought along a flashlight with which a visual inspection could have been done from the cockpit at the very least in addition to a control check. That said, I would have turned downwind brought the airplane back around for a landing whence a thorough inspection could have been done and an informed decision made as to whether further flight was advisable. My guess is that given the NTSB’s assessment, further flight was not advisable. This sounds like the old familiar get home-itis story which we know often ends badly. The CFI should have been faulted for poor judgement for continuing the flight back to home base without the benefit of a thorough post flight examination.
Are you kidding me !! That damage is very significant to say the least, If they had run out of runway he should of made a U come back and landed the airplane. There is no way the CFI could not have noticed all that damage. Shame on you Mr. CFI, big time…
Makes a change for the NTSB not to be critical of the pilot!
Unfortunately, the NTSB is correctly critical in about 80% of the accidents. Sad, but true. Best to be alert, rather than defensive.
http://dms.ntsb.gov/public/56000-56499/56157/552235.pdf This photo of the damage actually calls into question the CFI’s decision to continue his flight. His options for a safe night landing wouldn’t have been good had the aileron jammed.
Hi John. Mind if I ask you how you are able to get pictures from the NTSB database. I played around on the website for a while and could not get images from accidents.