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Cases › DCA02MA026 · Major investigation

Canadair CL-600-2B19ATLANTIC COAST AIRLINES

Dulles Airport, VA, USA · 2002-03-09·N622BR

0
fatal
0
serious
No injury
highest injury
Substantial
damage
AnalyseThe analystOne timeline · precedents · ask the docket · what the record saysGenerateInvestigation briefFacts, cause, recorder extremes, sequence, sourcesSourceNTSB docket12 documents on data.ntsb.gov

What happened

NTSB summary, verbatim

During its takeoff roll from runway 30 at Washington Dulles International Airport, Atlantic Coast Airways flight 7682, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19, struck two wild turkeys. The captain aborted the takeoff at about 110 knots. None of the crewmembers or passengers was injured. The captain taxied the airplane back to the gate without further incident. A postflight inspection revealed that one turkey had struck the number-two engine intake and that the first officer's windshield had been cracked and the surrounding structure beneath it bent by another turkey. The second turkey penetrated the pressure bulkhead and entered the back of the instrument panel but did not penetrate either the windshield or its supporting structure. The area where the turkey penetrated the pressure bulkhead was not strengthened for bird impact, nor was it required to be. A comprehensive airport wildlife management system was in effect at the time of the accident.

Photographs

2the aircraft, and what the investigators found
Wreckage and site documentation · 2 photographs from the docket

Photographs are NTSB docket attachments — works of the US government, in the public domain. Captions are the Board’s own.

Probable cause

the Board's determination
the airplane's collision with two wild turkeys.

NTSB analysis

from the final report

During its takeoff roll from runway 30 at Washington Dulles International Airport, Atlantic Coast Airways flight 7682, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19, struck two wild turkeys. The captain aborted the takeoff at about 110 knots. None of the crewmembers or passengers was injured. The captain taxied the airplane back to the gate without further incident. A postflight inspection revealed that one turkey had struck the number-two engine intake and that the first officer's windshield had been cracked and the surrounding structure beneath it bent by another turkey. The second turkey penetrated the pressure bulkhead and entered the back of the instrument panel but did not penetrate either the windshield or its supporting structure. The area where the turkey penetrated the pressure bulkhead was not strengthened for bird impact, nor was it required to be. A comprehensive airport wildlife management system was in effect at the time of the accident.