Story ID: 
Evidence of Birdstrike in Sabreliner Overrun
By: Gordon Gilbert
Caption: Bird residue was found in the left engine of the Sabreliner that crashed during an aborted takeoff May 9 from Brownwood Regional Airport, Texas, according 
Word Count: 172
Bird residue was found in the left engine of the Sabreliner that crashed during an aborted takeoff May 9 from Brownwood Regional Airport, Texas, according to the NTSB’s recently released factual report. After the airplane reached V1 the crew and passengers heard a “loud bang” after which the airplane swerved to the left. The pilots lost directional control and the airplane went off the end of the runway, hit trees, crossed a road and came to rest in a field. The GE CF700-powered jet was substantially damaged but there were no serious injuries to those on board. On subsequent investigation, the NTSB said “small organic fibers that appeared to be from a bird were found on the combustion chamber mating flange and throughout the second-stage turbine nozzle” of the left engine. The Safety Board also reported that while the 1978 twinjet (N972R) was equipped with a Fairchild Model A100 cockpit voice recorder, the recording was found to be of such “poor quality” it was useless for accident investigation purposes.