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ERA22LA325

2022-07-15 · Brunswick, Georgia, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport BQK

Current FAA registration · N400MX

Make / Model
BEECH 400A
Year of manufacture
2007 · 15 years old at event
Engine
P&W CANADA JT15D-5R
Seats / Engines
10 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date
20070301
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A4ADCA

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

An in-flight collision with a bird.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that shortly after departure, during their initial climb, he heard a “thump” and suspected a bird strike. The crew did not experience any control issues or anomalous behavior initially but continued to troubleshoot. As they were approaching 10,000 ft mean sea level, they noticed that the cabin altitude was also approaching 10,000 ft, so they leveled off and determined that they had a pressurization problem. After conferring with their flight operations and maintenance department, they notified air traffic control and diverted to a suitable airport and landed safely. Upon subsequent inspection it was revealed that a bird had penetrated the right side of the nose under the first officer’s window. The impact ruptured the fuselage and resulted in substantial airframe damage. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Animal(s)/bird(s)-Ability to respond/compensate

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2022_ERA22LA325.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (maintenance). All research papers