Event GAA17CA162

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that during approach he pushed the yoke forward to avoid a flock of birds in his flight path, which resulted in an "increased and abnormal rate of descent". He further reported that he was then unable to arrest the descent and the "main landing gear made very hard contact with the runway". The airplane bounced, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest nose down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The Federal Aviation Administration Airport Facility Diagram page for the destination airport in part states: "Birds on and invof [in vicinity of] arpt." The pilot reported that, during approach, he pushed the yoke forward to avoid a flock of birds in his flightpath, which resulted in an "increased and abnormal rate of descent." He was then unable to arrest the descent, and the "main landing gear made very hard contact with the runway." The airplane bounced, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest nose down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The Federal Aviation Administration Airport Facility Diagram page for the destination airport in part states: "Birds on and invof [in vicinity of] arpt." 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 Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent/approach/glide path-Attain/maintain not possible - C
• C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Animal(s)/bird(s)-Ability to respond/compensate - C