Deer Strike Damages Plane's Landing Gear, Forcing Emergency Landing

Wheeling, Ill. - A pilot and his family escaped injury when their plane struck a deer while attempting to land at a Grayslake airport Sunday night, forcing the plane back in the air and ultimately to an emergency landing in northwest suburban Wheeling.

Deborah Olson, wife of pilot John Olson, who was in the plane Sunday night as the family was returning from visiting relatives in Michigan, said just as the plane was landing, John Olson saw three deer on the runway of Grayslake's Campbell Airport, where he had planned on landing.

"John pulled up on the yolk to do a go-around, and we heard a thud and we hit the deer," she said.

Believing correctly that the landing gear was damaged, he flew to Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling for an emergency landing.

"The landing was perfect," Deborah Olson said. "We didn't get jarred, nothing. It was like landing on a cloud."

All six in the plane -- John and Deborah Olson, their daughter and son-in-law and two grandchildren, ages 8 and 6 -- walked away unharmed.

The plane landed in Wheeling on two wheels “without incident” and came to rest on its left wing shortly after 6 p.m. No injuries were reported, Wheeling Fire Dept. Battalion Chief Dave Palmeri said.

The Piper aircraft did not have its left main gear -- one of the wheels the plane lands on -- when it touched down on Runway 16 at Chicago Executive Airport, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.

"The pilot did an amazing job and he did everything right," Chicago Executive Airport manager Dennis Rouleau said. "His family is safe because of his excellent work."

Rouleau said "deer strikes" are fairly common, although Sunday's incident was the first time it had happened in the Lake County area.

The incident temporarily closed the airport, Cory said. Fire departments from Wheeling and Prospect Heights responded, and the FAA is investigating.