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Cessna Citation 550 strikes deer on runway, catches fire and burns

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GREENWOOD, SC – A huge plume of smoke that could be seen over two miles away billowed into the air after a plane crashed at the Greenwood County airport Saturday igniting several acres of grass and brush and destroying the aircraft. According to the pilot Gene Gunnin, the Cessna Citation 550 aircraft had just touched down when it struck the deer. "A deer ran out on the runway upon landing" said Gunnin. "It went under the left wing and struck the left landing gear." (www.gwdtoday.com) More...

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evbutler
Ev Butler 5
I have observed many close calls with deer on the runway. I watched a Mooney land on one, spun the deer around, and the Mooney landed safely. The pilot didn't know he had such a close call until we told him. There was deer hair on his fuselage. That was a very close call. Those creatures are quick.
HunterTS4
Toby Sharp 1
Are you Boyd Butler's lady?!
aceclark
aceclark 3
I hit a deer in a CJ after landing and managed to get to the left side of the runway to reduce the amount of damage of a Buck that ran at the plane. It took out the right gear door and the flap. $40,000.00 damage done. Airport took 20 deer the next two weeks now we don't see them. About 6 months later in a C421 just at the point of touch down a deer ran in my path from the left side of runway, with my cat like reflexes I pulled back on yoke and managed to hit the deer in the head with the tire, taxing back it was laying on the side of the runway sitting up, as I approached, it stood up and walked off. The airport there has also started thinning out the local herd. In 44 years and 23,000 hours I have hit Birds, Owel, Fox, Pigeons and Deer, you have to be alert at all time.
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
$40,000 in repair cost... You got of pretty light... Figured it would have been a lot more cost than that....
onceastudentpilot
tim mitchell 2
About 9 yrs ago my flight instructor and I were on our take-off roll...just about at 45 mph I started trying to say something but kept stuttering....lol....He looked over at me and said "what in the h%^l is wrong with you?"....I then managed to say "DEER"....There were four deer running toward the runway; he pulled the power back and took us into the grass...We then back taxied and gave it another go.
HunterTS4
Toby Sharp 2
Oh Deer!
HunterTS4
Toby Sharp 1
thanks for that ace!
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
Not good... But Birds, Deer, and other wild life are pretty common. Being in Maintenance Control, I probably hear more on this than most.
Beeskip
Beeskip 2
Bout as bad as the foxes I've seen scurrying across the runways at MEM.
howej011
Joseph Howes 2
im still trying to work out how a deer makes a plane catch fire. but then i read the rest of the info then i understood. its not a thing you hear every day
ArthurNetteler
When the landing gear struck the deer it buckled under and the wing struck the ground. Causing the wing to tear open and spill the fuel. The sparks from the dragging landing gear provided the sparks to ignite the fuel.
HunterTS4
Toby Sharp 1
Punctured the wing/fuel tank
bishops90
Brian Bishop 2
This little GA strip is in a pretty rural area. My daughter went to college in Greenwood and believe me, there are TONS of deer nearby. The roads around there show frequent signs of auto-deer collisions. To hit one in a Citation is pretty lousy timing.
azuresc
Lanny Word 1
SC, not GA, but yes if you don't see at least a couple of deer a day here you aren't looking very hard.
azuresc
Lanny Word 2
duh, sorry you were talking Gen Av., my bad. Its late.
benin
benin 2
that day was NOT the pilots day
HunterTS4
Toby Sharp 2
sure it was.....he survived and his pax did too
linbb
linbb 2
Repost again old news from over a week ago.
tongo
Dan Grelinger 1
"It went under the left wing..." Funny. If there was video of this incident, I'd wager that it would show that the "left wing went over the deer." When a jet just touches down, it is still travelling a whole lot faster than a deer can run.
nn22bb
David Arnold 1
Oh Poop...
skykingh09
Alan Harper 1
A few years ago I was landing, directly in the sun, when 2 deer stepped out on the runway. Thank God for an observant Air Carrier. He spotted me down the runway in front of the deer. The amazing part was after I tied down these same deer walked directly behind the tail of my plane while I was tying down the wings.
smoki
smoki 1
Gong on a shooting rampage to slaughter 4 legged wildlife around an open range airport will only slow down the migration, but will never stop it. A sufficiently high perimeter fence to restrict/limit their freedom of movement is among the best of options for the long term.
devsfan
ken young 2
ah.."shooting rampage"..The hysterical "all or nothing" straw man argument.
No one has suggested any type of inhumane act.
The fact is with no natural predators, the deer population is out of control.
HunterTS4
Toby Sharp 1
Worked as a lineman for Berry Aviation @ KHYI during college.....saw a cherokee hit a coyote square through the prop and into the nose wheel during landing.....long story short a nose gear collapse and a new prop and engine were in order........
captainjman
Jason Feldman 1
A mesa Beech1900 hit a bunch of deer and the port side propeller came through the cabin missing everyone.

I guess its human season and the deer are out in force.

Who said they were innocent furry animals that cant protect themselves. I'm going to learn to hunt so I can protect human kind LOL
bovineone
Jeff Lawson 1
Preliminary NTSB accident report for N6763L -- http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20121117X40351&key=1
drmeecml
drmeecml 1
I live in Missouri. We cull the herd every year and the number of deer per square mile is estimated to be between 9 and 30 depending on what part of the state you live in. I started hunting deer about 12 years ago and look forward to my time in the woods every year. Unfortunately I live in the part of Missouri were there are about 9 deer per square mile. I got a great shot opportunity with my bow this year. Got the pre-shot jitters and missed. Our local airport CGI sees more coyotes than deer.
devsfan
ken young 1
Here in the Southeast we have a HUGE problem wiht deer over population. Yet so called wildlife experts refuse to allow special hunts to cull the heard.
Therefore,accidents such as this will continue to occur. As the white tail deer population continues to explode, these collisions will become more frequent.
Luckily it's just an aircraft. It could have resulted in the loss of human life.
Unacceptable.
drmeecml
drmeecml 1
Vengeance is mine saith the deer!
onceastudentpilot
tim mitchell 1
I am glad everyone made it off safely....I remember a few years ago whenever I would go over to the airport whenever planes landed at night to watch them head back out after dropping off their cargo and just thinking about how bad it would be if they had struck a deer...I've only been to Greenwood once but I do remember there being a lot of trees around it.
ArthurNetteler
I have hit several animals and MANY birds in the 30+ years in the cockpit. Here we have a MULTI-MLLION Dollar aircraft destroyed, and COULD have had injuries or fatalities of people. There is NO animal worth that kind of damage or risk. They HAVE to put a secure perimeter around airports to keep birds and animals away. Killing them would be the preferred method, when other methods fail. Whatever the method this HAS TO BE DONE!
klimchuk
klimchuk 0
Oh Deer... Too bad it was small airplane, B777 would likely survived even if deer was ingested into the engine.
mattnyc
Matt Molnar -1
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

US Customs Jet Destroyed By A Deer

A Cessna business jet owned by United States Customs and Border Protection was destroyed when it hit a deer while landing in South Carolina.

http://www.nycaviation.com/2012/11/us-customs-service-jet-destroyed-by-a-deer/
stbernardpass
Jackie Butcher 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Wildlife On Runway Causes Problems For Bizjet Crew

A Citation II registered to the U.S. Customs Service landing at Greenwood County Airport (KGRD) in Greenwood, SC, came out the worse for wear after striking a deer that had strayed onto the runway. Fortunately, the two flight crew members who had been conducting a post-maintenance test flight managed to escape uninjured from the airplane, which was "substantially consumed" by a post-accident fire, according to the preliminary report from the NTSB

http://www.aero-news.net/emailarticle.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=6d9c9067-9bd0-4125-aea4-1335752e2177

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