<< >> NASA ASRS Report 1740525, April 2020

Cessna pilot reported aircraft was struck by an object during initial climb causing a dent in aircraft.

Attributes
ACN	1740525
Time
Date	202004
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	CPK.Airport
State Reference	VA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft High Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 50 Flight Crew Total 14500 Flight Crew Type 55
Events
Anomaly	Inflight Event / Encounter Object
Miss Distance	Horizontal 0 Vertical 0

Narrative:

VFR pattern work at cpk; just turned left crosswind. Minor updraft with turbulence; loud bang and pitch down moment. Regained control of aircraft; returned to ZZZ1 (home base). Upon post flight; noticed a 4 inch dent on leading edge of right horizontal stabilizer approximately 9 inches from root. Scratch marks evident inside concavity and adjacent (medial) to dented concavity. No red discoloration noted; no organic tissue noted anywhere on aircraft. 100% certain an impact occurred in the pattern at chesapeake; do not believe it was a bird strike.

Related reports:

• Cessna 150 pilot reported a loss of engine power during init...

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web www.37000feet.com

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Cessna pilot reported aircraft was struck by an object during initial climb causing a dent in aircraft.

Narrative: VFR pattern work at CPK; just turned left crosswind. Minor updraft with turbulence; loud bang and pitch down moment. Regained control of aircraft; returned to ZZZ1 (home base). Upon post flight; noticed a 4 inch dent on leading edge of right horizontal stabilizer approximately 9 inches from root. Scratch marks evident inside concavity and adjacent (medial) to dented concavity. No red discoloration noted; no organic tissue noted anywhere on aircraft. 100% certain an impact occurred in the pattern at Chesapeake; do not believe it was a bird strike.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.