N9385C

On April 29, 2000, at 2130 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-32RT-200, N9385C, collided with a deer while landing on runway 17 at the East Cooper Airport in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The personal flight was operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the pilot and his passenger were not injured. The flight departed Kennesaw, Georgia, at 1900.

The pilot arrived at the destination airport and established a traffic pattern for a night landing on runway 17. The pilot completed the before landing check which included turning on the landing light. According to the pilot, the airplane was approximately 2500 feet down the runway on the landing roll when a deer was observed on the runway. As the airplane continued the landing roll-out, the right propeller struck the deer. After the airplane struck the deer, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the airframe sustained additional structural damage during the subsequent sequence of events.

The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane.