Embraer 120RT N504AS

Summary

On 7 December 2000 at about 01:38 local time, a Embraer 120RT registered N504AS was involved in an accident near Charleston, West Virginia, United States. 19 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 December 2000 at 01:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Charleston, West Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Yeager Airport (CRW)

Coordinates

38.3498, -81.6298

Aircraft

Embraer 120RT

Registration

N504AS

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Atlanta → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

NYC01LA054

1 person was seriously injured.

Deer on the runway. Factors included reduced visibility due to nighttime lighting and light snow conditions, breaches in the perimeter fence, increased seasonal deer activity, and the rural location of the airport.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

An Embraer 120RT struck two deer on the runway during a night landing at a tower-operated, rural, mountaintop airport. At the time, skies were overcast, and light snow was falling. The tip of a propeller blade from the number 2 engine separated, and punctured the airplane's fuselage. A runway inspection had commenced shortly before the accident, but the inspection vehicle had not yet reached the area where the accident occurred. There were two breaches in the perimeter fence. Perimeter fence maintenance inspections had been conducted monthly, but were later scheduled to be increased during fall and winter seasons due to higher volumes of deer and greater deer activity. A program to clear the fence line of all brush and weeds, and remove all trees and brush inside the fence, was scheduled to begin during the spring of 2002. Deer elimination procedures within the fence perimeter were in effect; however, as a result of the accident, they were expanded to include deer near the fence. At the time of the accident, a yearlong wildlife management study was scheduled to commence in August 2001.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.