We were past VR at a short strip last week when a deer became visible for just a second and then passed under the nose. Had we been on the runway for just 500 more feet, we would have hit it square on. There was no chance to evade, abort, or climb. I thought about it quite a lot and the following options came to mind: If we hit it square at 140kt, it would have shattered the radome and likely torn off the nosegear door, possibly disabling the nosegear. Nose-high would have shorn off our belly antennas and fragged the main doors and flaps. If it jumped, we would have possibly lost a windshield or FOD-damaged one or both motors. We would have been climbing into IMC on one motor with questionable gear and flaps. Has anybody ever struck an animal this large on takeoff?
It seems to me the best option is to raise the nose a bit and then do a hard abort. Thoughts?
It seems to me the best option is to raise the nose a bit and then do a hard abort. Thoughts?