Unexpected Wildlife Management Forces Pilot’s Quick Thinking

Routine flight turns into an unexpected learning experience.

Wednesday, February 04, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

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The author says what should have been a routine landing turned into an unforgettable encounter. [Illustration: Joel Kimmel]

Key Takeaways:

A pilot experienced a deer strike during landing at a rural, nontowered airport, resulting in significant aircraft damage to their newly acquired plane.
The incident highlighted critical lessons learned, such as the need for expanded airfield scanning for wildlife, maintaining vigilance until fully parked, ensuring communication devices are reliably charged, having key emergency contacts readily available, and thoroughly verifying aircraft insurance coverage.

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My background in aviation started when I was quite young, and my dad took me up in his new-to-him Cessna 150.

My dad and I didn’t connect on many things throughout my childhood, but I’ll always remember that first flight with him when it was just us, and he showed me the basics of flying an airplane. He’d point things out on the ground, but I couldn’t recognize them from the air. It didn’t matter though, because I was flying.