Cessna 172N accident near Pinckneyville, Illinois, February 11, 2007
On February 11, 2007 at about 1:00 am local time, a Cessna 172N, registered N9478E, was substantially damaged in an accident near Pinckneyville, Illinois (Pinckneyville-Du Quoin airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Presence of a deer on the runway resulting in an inadvertent collision during the landing roll.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 11, 2007 · about 1:00 am local time
- Place
- Pinckneyville, Illinois · Pinckneyville-Du Quoin · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172N · all 172Ns on the register
- Registration
- N9478E · registry record · serial 17272276
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane was substantially damaged when it struck a deer while landing. The pilot stated: "As I landed . . . a deer struck my right horizontal stabilizer [causing] structural damage on the right stabilizer." Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot was not injured.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 300 hours in all; 100 in this make and model; 10 in the last 90 days; 5 in the last 30 days; 110 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: February 1, 2006
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Maximum gross weight: 2,300 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-H2AD (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: BUU Burlington WI at 10:00 pm
- Destination: PJY Pinckneyville IL
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 18, 4,000 ft by 60 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number CHI07CA082.