NTSB Factual Report

According to the flight instructor, during a night landing at a non-tower-controlled airport, the student pilot flared the airplane. They both then felt and heard a loud jolt, and thought the student pilot had made a hard landing. The student pilot completed the landing roll, turned the airplane around, and began to back taxi. During the back taxi, both pilots saw remnants of a deer in the middle of the runway. The student pilot was then directed to taxi off the runway and shut down the engine. A postflight examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the main landing gear, engine compartment firewall, lower fuselage, nose cowling and propeller. No preexisting mechanical anomalies were noted with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause

An inadvertent collision with a deer during a night landing.