Not sketchy, but close to being my last plane ride. I was flying aerial waterfowl surveys with a TPWD pilot / warden (former military pilot) in the late 90's over Texas Coastal marsh. We were in one of the single prop 4-seat Cessna planes. I was looking out of the left window for ducks & geese and the other biologist was looking out of the right. It was a warm windy day so it was already a little rough in the plane.
All of the sudden the pilot dove hard. Our stomachs went to our throats and we felt and heard a big thud. The pilot said "damn it,... vultures usually go up." He looked out the window at the wing and said "time to take it down, looks like it is lunchtime". Neither of us had any appetite since we were barely holding breakfast down after the unexpected dive.
When we landed and could see the damage, it looked like a very big guy hit the wing as hard as they could with a softball bat. Thankfully it was close to the where the stabilizing brace connected between the wing and fuselage. The pilot said if it was a 2 feet closer to the cockpit it would have taken out the prop and if it was 2 feet farther out it would have likely caused enough damage he might not have enough been able to make it back to the airport. The thought of landing it in the marsh wasn't good since I also did alligator surveys in the area.
The FAA inspector wouldn't let the pilot take it back to Austin alone without being repaired in Beaumont.
Needless to say, I didn't look forward to the next set of surveys.
All of the sudden the pilot dove hard. Our stomachs went to our throats and we felt and heard a big thud. The pilot said "damn it,... vultures usually go up." He looked out the window at the wing and said "time to take it down, looks like it is lunchtime". Neither of us had any appetite since we were barely holding breakfast down after the unexpected dive.
When we landed and could see the damage, it looked like a very big guy hit the wing as hard as they could with a softball bat. Thankfully it was close to the where the stabilizing brace connected between the wing and fuselage. The pilot said if it was a 2 feet closer to the cockpit it would have taken out the prop and if it was 2 feet farther out it would have likely caused enough damage he might not have enough been able to make it back to the airport. The thought of landing it in the marsh wasn't good since I also did alligator surveys in the area.
The FAA inspector wouldn't let the pilot take it back to Austin alone without being repaired in Beaumont.
Needless to say, I didn't look forward to the next set of surveys.