What happened
During the takeoff roll on a scheduled flight, the aircraft's nose gear made contact with a deer located on the runway. The flight crew recognized the impact and immediately initiated an abort of the takeoff. The aircraft was safely taxied back to the terminal area. Upon arrival, the flight crew conducted a preliminary visual inspection of the landing gear and surrounding structures. No visible damage was detected during this initial check. Consequently, the aircraft remained in service and departed shortly thereafter on its scheduled route.
The aircraft continued normal operations for the next 48 hours, completing 18 additional flights without incident. After these flights, the aircraft was placed into the maintenance shop for routine servicing. During this scheduled maintenance period, technicians identified damage in the nose wheel area that had not been apparent during the earlier post-incident inspection by the flight crew.
The investigation
The initial assessment was limited to a walk-around inspection performed by the flight crew immediately after the incident. This inspection did not reveal any structural compromise or visible deformation of the nose gear components. It was only during a subsequent scheduled maintenance event, days after the initial strike, that physical damage to the nose wheel assembly was confirmed and documented.