NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA17CA251
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
An in-flight collision with a bird during takeoff, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power and subsequent collision with trees and terrain.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, during takeoff, when the aerial application airplane was about 15 feet above ground level, he noticed a decrease in engine performance, verified that the engine controls were full forward and turned the fuel boost pump ON. He dropped the hopper load, however the airplane performance continued to decrease. The pilot elected to land the airplane straight-ahead and the airplane impacted trees prior to coming to rest inverted in a bog. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. Furthermore, after the airplane was removed from the bog, the Federal Aviation Administration inspector who responded to the accident found feathers associated with a Canadian goose in the vicinity of the engine and damaged propeller. According to the pilot there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. According to the pilot, during takeoff, when the agricultural application airplane was about 15 ft above ground level, he noticed a decrease in engine performance, verified that the engine controls were full forward, and turned the fuel boost pump on. He dropped the hopper load; however, the airplane's performance continued to decrease. The pilot chose to land the airplane straight ahead, and the airplane impacted trees before coming to rest inverted in a bog. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. Further, after the airplane was removed from the bog, the Federal Aviation Administration inspector who responded to the accident found feathers associated with a Canada goose near the engine and damaged propeller. According to the pilot, there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Animal(s)/bird(s)-Ability to respond/compensate - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2017_ERA17CA251.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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