Deer Strike During Night Landing Damages Training Aircraft

Incident Details

A flight instructor and student pilot were conducting a night landing at a non-tower-controlled airport. During the landing flare, both individuals felt and heard a loud jolt, initially believing the student pilot had executed a hard landing. The student pilot completed the landing roll, turned the aircraft around, and began a back taxi. While taxiing back, both pilots observed remnants of a deer on the runway. The student pilot was then directed to taxi off the runway and shut down the engine.

Damage

A postflight examination of the aircraft revealed substantial damage to the main landing gear, engine compartment firewall, lower fuselage, nose cowling, and propeller. No preexisting mechanical anomalies were noted with the aircraft.