Probable Cause: An INFLIGHT collision with a deer.

Now that’s something you don’t see every day.

Will done sir, well done. Glad you were ok.

Everyone else had provided the good news, and I agree.

The bad news...

You will have to check the "accident" box on the online applications for the majors. This may cause your app to be scored lower by the computer. Once your score is high enough to trigger a human review, common sense will apply and you'll be fine. The online apps provide a short text block for an explanation... I would briefly summarize and include the number of the NTSB report.

So you might experience a delay getting called for a major interview. But as others have said the story should be a net positive at the interview.

That is correct: it's a positive thing in an interview, but you've got to get there, first.

You are obviously senior enough you don’t have to fly on Christmas Eve.

I see what you did there. Well played.

Valid point.

I just took an instrument checkride a few months ago. My DPE has been an airline pilot for 20+ years. He told me when he was PPL, he had a crash landing due to full exhaustion of fuel. He put the plane down in a field and was not injured.

If he can go on and have a bright and successful airline pilot career and be a DPE, i would think you are just fine.

This ^^^.......
Acquaintance went into the trees with a banner tow pickup. Crawled out soaked in fuel.
Flies for a major now.

This. It's an unfair system but this is reality. I'm not saying you won't ever get a major interview but it's just easier for HR to pull from one of the 10k apps on file without that box checked. Are you okay with the possibility of finishing out your career at a regional? Making low six figures and eventually getting 18 days off at a regional would still beat 95% of other non flying jobs out there in my opinion. That's the worst you could plan for and hopefully be pleasantly surprised with a lot more. Also, I would recommend a regional with flow so you don't have to stress about getting a mainline interview.

I think this would have been EXCELLENT advice, even five years ago. But the times, as Bob Dylan once said, they are a changing.

It won't be long before not even the legacies will be able to computer sort apps without having a human look at them. Just too many retirements and too few in the applicant pool. And yes, I know, the big six are all going to have six times the applicants they will truly need to fill their vacancies. Problem is that each of those applicants is going to have six apps out too - one to each of the big six.