North Fork Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Paonia, Colorado 81428
Sunday, November 4, 2001 16:40 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot, and his passenger were on a sightseeing flight. While en route, the pilot decided to do a touch-and-go landing at a nearby airport. The pilot stated that he did not see any deer on the runway. However, just after rotation, a deer appeared in his path, and the airplane struck the deer with its left wing, tearing off the left main landing gear assembly. He continued to his final destination, where he landed the airplane, the airplane's left wing tip struck the ground, and the airplane slid off of the north side of the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

impact with a deer during initial climb immediately following rotation, resulting in the separation of the left main landing gear assembly.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/4/2001
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1640
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Paonia
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81428
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport North Fork Valley
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 7V2
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1655 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID KEGE
Elevation of weather observation facility 6535
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.37
Density Altitude (feet) 7537
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12054
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Nov 4 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1859
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2002 9:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4447D
NTSB Number DEN02LA007
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-235
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 10621
Certified Max Gross Weight 2900
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 2 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 23
Airframe Hours 5303
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Christopher L. Garbe
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Breckenridge
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80424
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code GUC
Departure City Gunnison
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1507
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code EGE
Destination City Eagle
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - roll/run
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jun 28 2002 4:44PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 05
Runway Length 4500
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --