N94445

On October 22, 2003, about 1130 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N94445, registered to Daytona Aircraft Leasing Inc., and operated by Phoenix East Aviation Inc., as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, experienced a bird strike, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing near Lake Disston, Pierson, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The commercial-rated pilot/certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot both reported minor injuries. The flight had departed from Daytona Beach, Florida, the same day at 1030.

According to the FAA inspector at the scene, the airplane was found inverted, a quarter of the windshield was recovered, the nose and main landing gears were broken, the vertical stabilizer and bottom of fuselage were found buckled. A bird was found in the airplane. A feather was retained for identification of the bird.

The CFI stated that the student was practicing ground reference maneuvers and at about 1130, at 1,000 feet at an indicated airspeed of 90 knots while coming out of a left turn, a "sudden loud noise followed by debris was felt in the cockpit." The CFI stated the airplane was missing the windshield and he could not maintain altitude after applying full throttle. The pilot declared an emergency and secured the engine. The airplane impacted a field nose first and came to a halt inverted.

Dr. Carla Dove of the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC, identified the feather to have belonged to a Black Vulture, which has a weight range between 42 and 75 ounces.