What happened
On January 5, 2008, a Piper PA-32R-300, registration N9896, was completing its landing in Brooksville, Florida. Immediately after the aircraft landed and the nose wheel made contact with the runway, a deer ran from the grass and struck the right wing. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the airplane. The pilot reported that the collision was unavoidable.
Findings
The investigation determined that the aircraft was operating under visual meteorological conditions (VMC) at the time of the incident. The damage occurred during the landing phase as the deer entered the path of the aircraft.