Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Minneapolis- St. Paul Internat Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55450
Wednesday, November 12, 2003 19:15 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The air carrier flight was substantially damaged when it impacted geese while being vectored for approach. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The pilots heard a "thump." They reportedly watched the engine indications and saw nothing unusual. They visually inspected their respective wings and saw no damage. The airplane landed without incident at its destination. Inspection of the airplane revealed damage to the following areas: the vertical stabilizer front lower spare, the vertical stabilizer to the rear lower spare, the dorsal fin right hand skin panels and support structure, flange damage to rudder lower support rib for leading edge panel, and the left hand wing front spare.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight collision with geese during approach. The contributing factor was the bright night conditions
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/12/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1915 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Minneapolis |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55450 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 450256N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0921722W |
| Event Location Airport | Minneapolis- St. Paul Internat |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MSP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 47 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 77 |
| Airport Elevation | 841 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1853 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 257 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MSP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 841 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 41 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 25 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15859 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 14 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1338 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2004 7:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Minneapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N442XJ |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA033 |
| 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 | Saab-Scania |
| Aircraft Model | Saab 340B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 442 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 29000 |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lambert Leasing, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 21300 Ridgetop Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sterling |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20166 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Mesaba Airlines Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1000 Blue Gentian Road |
| Operator City | Eagan |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 55121 |
| Operator Code | MALA |
| 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 | EAU |
| Departure City | Eau Claire |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1840 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MSP |
| Destination City | Minneapolis |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2004 3:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12L |
| Runway Length | 8200 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |