- Date
- April 26, 2005, 18:26 local (22:26 UTC)
- Place
- Lawrenceville, GA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N50KVSwearingen SA-26AT
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Atlanta FSDO
- FAA report
- 20050426009049A
- Case key
- 61371
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's improper landing flare that resulted in a hard landing.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
While executing an instrument approach to land on runway 25, the airplane collided with the runway, and collapsed the right main landing gear. The airplane subsequently burst into flames after the pilot and passenger exited the airplane. Post-accident examination of the engines found both the left and right engine fuel controls in a low power setting. Examination of the propeller control found both propellers at 30-degrees. The pilot did not report any flight control or mechanical problems during flight.
Factual narrative
On April 26, 2005, at 1826 eastern daylight time, a Swearingen SA-26AT, N50KV, registered to Southland Leasing Company, and operated by the Airline Transport Pilot, collided with runway 25,and burst into flames during a landing at the Gwinnett County-Briscoe Airport, in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and instrument flight rules. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and an IFR flight plan was filed. The pilot and passenger received minor injuries and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight originated from Spartanburg, South Carolina, on April 26, 2005, at 1741.
According to the pilot, just before touchdown the airplane turned right, and the left wing lifted and the right main gear hit the ground. He said the right main gear collapsed and the airplane bounced back into the air. He further said the airplane hit the ground a second time at a right angle to the runway's center line, and the left main and nose gear broke off and the airplane came to a stop on a taxiway. He stated that he and his passenger egressed the airplane through the emergency exit window on the right side of the airplane and got about 200 to 300 feet away when the airplane caught fire and burned. Airport crash fire rescue arrived shortly and extinguished the fire.
Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that the right main landing gear collapsed on initial contact with the runway, and the left main and nose gear collapsed shortly after the right main and subsequently separated from the airplane. Examination of the engines found both the left and right engine fuel controls in a low power setting. Examination of the propeller control found both propellers at 30-degrees. The pilot did not report a flight control or mechanical problems during flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N50KV
- Reported as
- Swearingen SA-26AT
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- T26-115
- Airframe hours
- 9,415
- Engines
- Garrett TPE 331-1-151, 840 horsepower, turbo propGarrett TPE 331-1-151, 840 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Henry C Davis II
- Registered owner
- Southland Leasing Co
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 1, 2004 · 94.5 hours before
- Departed
- SBA · Spartanburg, SC
- Destination
- LZU · Lawrenceville, GA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- LZU · Gwinnett County - Briscoe Fiel, runway 25, 6,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 59
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 1, 2003
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 14,000 total · 3,500 in this make and model · 14,000 as pilot in command · 120 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 700 ft broken
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.78 inHg
- Observed at
- LZU
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.