What happened
On October 13, 2017, a Diamond Aircraft Industries DA-40, registration N965DS, sustained substantial damage following a landing at Falcon Field Airport (FFZ) in Mesa, Arizona. The flight, which was an employment evaluation flight, involved a flight instructor and a pilot. No injuries were reported (0 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor).
The sequence of events began on the evening of October 12, 2017. During a solo flight, a student pilot struck a coyote with the right main landing gear during the landing flare. Although the student pilot performed a visual inspection and found no damage, a mechanic noted hair in the landing gear upon the aircraft's return to the field. The airplane was subsequently returned to service.
On the morning of October 13, the aircraft was dispatched for a local flight consisting of instrument approaches and touch-and-go landings. Although the crew completed a preflight inspection and observed no anomalies, they noticed an abnormal noise coming from the right main landing gear area after the final landing of the flight.