The flight instructor reported that, about three minutes after they had leveled off, “a black vulture” struck the Beech 95’s windscreen, causing substantial damage.
The airplane returned to the airport in Navasota, Texas, and landed.
The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: The airplane’s impact with a bird.
This June 2019 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
The bird is going 20 mph and the airplane is going 200 mph. Who flew into what?
A 200 mph Beech 95?
Hmmm; maybe once, going straight down at full throttle….
Weather was 2500 scattered. The flight leveled at 1500 for a 34nm trip. No rules were broken of course. But why not get up higher for a better chance of getting above the birds, and above aircraft doing training maneuvers.
And be closer to aircraft descending out of the clouds or birds flying at higher levels..
Training could be at 500′ higher and also legal.
Just one of those things with no good answer.
Well my thought was to get above the 2500 scattered layer – 3500, 4500, or 5500 as appropriate.
And let’s say he got above the scattered layer and then it closed in. Then what would this article be about?
Thank you. That’s an excellent reminder to carefully evaluate the forecast, all weather information, and pilot qualifications, for the possibility of a scattered layer closing in. In this case, there’s no information about forecasts, but both pilots were CFI’s so scattered changing to broken was probably not a problem.