Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rogue Valley Int. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Medford, Oregon 97501
Wednesday, January 8, 2003 18:15 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft, which was on a downwind for a night visual approach, impacted a flock of Lesser Scaups (diving ducks). The nose structure of the aircraft and the windshield directly in front of the captain received multiple bird strikes. Some of the birds penetrated the aircraft's skin, but there was no direct penetration of the windshield. Although the windshield was not penetrated, hundreds of small pieces of glass were ejected from the most inner of the windshield's three panes, and approximately 70 of these pieces imbedded themselves in the face, forehead, and scalp of the captain. The first officer ultimately completed a successful landing, while using backup flight instruments. The investigation determined that the windshield certification process defined in Part 25 of the Federal Aviation Regulations and the Canadian Aviation Regulations does not take into account the effects of multiple bird strikes on the same windshield.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fracture and spalling of the inner-most pane of the aircraft's port side windshield while on a downwind for a night visual approach due to an imposed load beyond that required for windshield certification (multiple bird strikes). Factors include a dark night, and a flock of ducks (Lesser Scaups) flying in the location of the visual traffic pattern.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/8/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1815 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Medford |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97501 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 422649N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225138W |
| Event Location Airport | Rogue Valley Int. |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MFR |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 31 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16787 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 8 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2004 11:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Porland FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N409QX |
| NTSB Number | SEA03FA024 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bombardier |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-8-401 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4051 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 64500 |
| 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 | 75 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 10 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 168 |
| Airframe Hours | 2760 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HORIZON AIR INDUSTRIES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8070 N. E. Airtrans Way |
| Aircraft Owner City | Portland |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97218 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | QXEA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SEA |
| Departure City | Seattle |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1726 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MFR |
| Destination City | Medford |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - downwind |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 20 2004 4:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 8798 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |