Challenger 300 hits geese after takeoff at Waukegan, 2006

Final reportBird strike

The short version

N523FX took off from runway 23 at Waukegan for Waukesha and hit a flock of Canada geese at about 450 ft above the ground. The crew returned to Waukegan, saw more geese on the approach without hitting them, and landed. The strike damaged the right side of the nose and the right wing leading edge badly enough to need new fuselage skin and frames.

What happened

  1. N523FX takes off from runway 23 (6,000 ft by 150 ft, asphalt) at Waukegan Regional Airport. It is a Part 135 flight on an IFR flight plan to Waukesha, Wisconsin, flown by a Flexjet crew.

  2. At about 450 ft above ground level, the aircraft flies into a flock of Canada geese.

  3. The crew turn back for Waukegan. On the approach they meet more geese and do not hit any.

  4. The aircraft lands at Waukegan without further incident. Nobody is hurt.

The time is local (central standard time).

The birds hit the right side of the nose and the right wing leading edge. The repair included new right forward fuselage skin and replacement of frames 242.5 and 253. The outer frame of the forward pressure bulkhead, frame 250, was repaired. Nobody kept the bird remains for identification, neither Flexjet, Jet Solutions nor the maintenance staff.1

The NTSB published this as a short report. It gives no weather details beyond visual conditions, no flight data and no account of the crew's actions between the strike and the landing.1

Why it happened

  1. The NTSB gives the probable cause as the bird strike during initial climb after takeoff from the departure airport. Its finding lists the occurrence as an in-flight collision with an object during initial climb, with the object coded as birds.1

  2. The report does not discuss bird activity at the airport, wildlife control or any warning given to the crew.

The report makes no safety recommendations.1

What a crew can take from it

  1. Fly the aircraft first. At 450 ft the aircraft is low, slow and climbing. Keep the climb going on your normal profile before anyone starts working out what was hit.

  2. Expect more birds where you met the first ones. This crew came back into the same area and found more geese on the approach. Geese move in flocks. When you return to the field you left, brief that the birds may still be there, and be ready to go around or change the approach.

  3. A strike on the nose can affect your air data. The geese hit the right side of the nose. That is where the probes that feed the flight instruments sit. After a strike there, compare the airspeed and altitude on both sides and the standby before you trust any one display.

  4. Get the damage looked at before the next flight. The report lists skin and frames that had to be replaced, including work next to the forward pressure bulkhead. Damage like that is not always obvious on a walkaround. Report every strike, even when the aircraft seems to fly normally.

  5. Keep the remains. Nobody kept the bird remains here, so the birds were never formally identified. Wildlife teams use that information to manage birds at the airport. Bag what you can find and pass it to maintenance.

Study it on the course

Sources

  1. National Transportation Safety Board. Aviation Investigation Final Report CHI07CA075, Bombardier BD-100-1A10 N523FX, Waukegan, Illinois, 10 December 2006. First published 29 November 2007.
  2. NTSB, docket CHI07CA075.

Last updated 22 October 2026

For study only. Always use the approved AFM, QRH and operator procedures.