As the pilot landed on the runway at the airport in Manzanita, Oregon, he noticed an elk running toward the nose of the RV-8.
He applied full throttle and climbed to avoid impact, but the propeller struck the elk.
The pilot shut off the engine, and the airplane descended to the runway. When the airplane touched down on the runway, a second elk collided with the airplane’s left wing.
The airplane veered to the left, and the right main landing gear collapsed. The airplane then veered to the right and came to rest on the right wing. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings.
The Airport Facility Directory for the airport stated that there was wildlife in the vicinity of the runway.
Probable cause: The airplane’s collision with two elks during landing.
NTSB Identification: GAA17CA541
This September 2017 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.
In 1973 I was at San Juan Island “airport” in Washington State waiting to pick up an arriving friend in a Piper Apache air taxi which kept circling the airport due to some cows on the runway. As the only person on the ground, I had the honors of shooing them off! I was told by the pilot that he always did a flyover to check for animals on the runway on the various non-towered airports up there and this had happened many times.
Yes Brian, “Airport Facility Directory” or AFD worked just fine for many years. You gotta’ wonder about the urgency of title change. Personally, I refer to it as the GREEN book; but if I push that, some other fool will want to change the color.
I always found the AFD (grrr… Chart Supplement) to be a great asset, especially after inclusion of airport diagrams. Too bad so few FBO’s now have them available for sale. Maybe it has something to do with the DUMB title.
“Airport Facility Directory” was such a good descriptive name. I can never remember the name “Chart Supplement” (I had to look it up for this comment) and it has been changed for 3 1/2 years now.
Sometimes it’s just not your day.
FINAL SCORE
RV = 2
ELK = 1