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It's official - Rabbit kills RV-6A

N941WR

N941WR

Legacy Member
NTSB said:
NTSB Identification: ATL06LA052.
The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (DMS). Please contact Records Management Division
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, March 13, 2006 in Mooresville, NC
Probable Cause Approval Date: 12/28/2006
Aircraft: E Newton Newton RV-6A, registration: N57ME
Injuries: 1 Minor.
On March 13, 2006, at 1045 eastern standard time, an E&M Newton RV-6A, N57ME, registered to and operated by a private individual, as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, nosed over during landing roll at Miller Airpark, Mooresville, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The airline transport rated pilot reported minor injuries and the airplane received substantial damage. The flight originated from the Miller Airpark, Mooresville, North Carolina, on March 13, 2006, at 1000.

The pilot stated that he made a normal approach to runway 36, which is a 2,000-foot smooth grass runway. During the touchdown the airplane skipped slightly and then touched down normally. The pilot stated that during the roll out everything was normal until the nose started to drop. He applied full up elevator but could not arrest the descent of the nose. The airplane slid approximately 40 feet and then nosed over inverted. After he exited the airplane and examined the nose gear he found that the nose gear was bent aft. Further examination revealed that there was a dead rabbit just prior to where the nose gear started making a trench in the grass. The airplane came to a stop in the center of the runway with approximately 900 feet remaining on the runway. The pilot did not report any malfunctions with the airplane prior to the accident.

Examination of the wreckage by an FAA inspector revealed the first ground scar was 1,000 feet from the approach end of runway 36. Within the first three feet of the ground scar there was a 15-inch long lifeless rabbit. The airplane came to rest inverted on the canopy facing south, 1,180 feet from the approach end of runway 36.

The nose landing gear was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board materials laboratory for further examination. The wheel was removed, dissembled, and no mechanical defects were noted during the examination. Due to the reported animal impact of the nose landing gear, a swab was taken from the inside wheel fairing. A phenolphthalein presumptive blood test was performed on the swab, and the result was positive for blood.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20060509X00527&key=1
Click to expand...

Kind of funny they actually tested the gear for blood.

What would you call that rabbit? It can't be road kill, maybe runway kill?
 
That was on harey landing! :eek: I saw a coyote a few hundred feet north of our runway a week or so ago when I was on final. Watch out for critters!
 
Sounds like it's time to call Wallace & Gromit and get the BunVac 6000.

PL_60_screen1_f.jpg
 
I had to abort a landing at dusk in a 172 due to a 6-point buck standing on the runway several years ago. I didn't spot him until I was deep into the flare and inches above the pavement. I firewalled the throttle as I touched down, rolled for maybe 100 feet, then lifted off again, I probably cleared him by 10 or 15 feet, not much more.

I'd hate to see what Bambi would do to Cessna.....
 
Bunny wars...

OK,
Time to drag out the heavy weapons. My personal count for go-arounds at Cascabel: (1) Two (2) desert tortoises on the first 500 feet of runway simultaneously, (2) One mountain lion on the non-existent numbers, (3) More javelinas, coyotes, deer, and quail than this aging boy can count...

Miller McPherson
RV-6, 800+ hours
 
I flew into Astoria, Or IFR

When I broke out at about 250 ft, I saw the approach markers and was lined up OK. At about 100 ft I saw the elk on the runway. :eek: The runway is long for a C172 so I just added a little power and landed long on the other side of them.
There is a fence around to keep the critters out, but who ever decided on the fencing for the airport that that the fence didn't need to go around the north end because of the marsh that was there.
I guess they didn't realize that elk can walk through 2 feet of water without any problem. :(

Kent
 
Kent, I flew out of Astoria early in the morning a couple years ago. VFR min, and had the same thing, several elk wandering down the runway. Had to advise a pilot on downwind to make his landing a long one... had to back taxi myself. You'd think they'd have done something about it by now. Who knows.
 
Joe, don't know if you knew about the LearJet

03 DEC 2002
A Learjet 36 corporate jet (N546PA) struck an elk while trying to take off from Astoria Airport, OR (AST) runway 8. Takeoff was aborted but the aircraft overran the runway, coming to rest in a marshy patch. The airplane caught fire, destroying the entire fuselage. (The Daily Astorian)

Kent
 
Structural Integrity?

Aside from all the humor, I have to wonder about the strenght of the NLG if a rabbit is enough mass to damage it so severely. Although it's not particularly relevant since I'm building a -4, I'm still trying to decide if RV's are robust enough for improved-pasture operations? Makes you wonder the design criteria for the gear, doesn't it?
 
mburch said:
That's no ordinary rabbit!

mcb ;)
Click to expand...
[size=-1]That rabbit has a mean streak a mile wide! :D [/size]

I just got back from a few days in Vegas and managed to catch the show Spamalot while there. It was great, and I highly recommend seeing it if you can. There is a traveling version of the show with tour dates across the US this summer.
 
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