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Atlas / NTSB / GAA18CA032

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event GAA18CA032

2017-10-27 West Seneca, New York, United States Airport · 9G0 None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The airplane's collision with a deer during the landing roll.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor reported that, in day visual meteorological conditions, during the landing roll, a deer "appeared from high grass and bushes" from the right of the runway. He added that, before he could react, the deer impacted the inboard section of the right wing. The flight instructor stopped the airplane on the runway, and then taxied to the ramp without further incident The right wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The Federal Aviation Administration Chart Supplement for the airport stated in part: Deer on and invof [in the vicinity of] arpt [airport]. The flight instructor reported that, in day visual meteorological conditions, during the landing roll, a deer "appeared from high grass and bushes" from the right of the runway. He added that, before he could react, the deer impacted the inboard section of the right wing. The flight instructor stopped the airplane on the runway and then taxied to the ramp without further incident The right wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The Federal Aviation Administration Chart Supplement for the airport stated, in part: "Deer on and invof [in the vicinity of] arpt [airport]." 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_GAA18CA032.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.