Cessna 120 N77216 accident near Climax, North Carolina

Probable cause

An evasive maneuver during the landing roll to avoid deer on the runway, which resulted in a runway excursion and a nose over. Contributing to the accident was the lack of an airport perimeter fence.

NTSB analysis

The pilot reported that following a day visual meteorological condition flight, during the landing roll, two deer jumped onto the runway and he swerved the airplane to the right off of the runway, avoiding both deer. During the runway excursion, the right main landing gear became caught in tall grass and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, vertical stabilizer, and both wings.

The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

During a postaccident interview with the airport manager, he reported that the airport does not a have a perimeter fence.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA16CA304 for the full record.