- Date
- July 24, 2009, 19:12 local (23:12 UTC)
- Place
- Dayton, OH
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N87711Beech H-18
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20090724016779A
- Case key
- 74396
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 failure to lock the tailwheel during landing resulting in the loss of directional control.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The airplane veered to the left and off the runway after the tailwheel touched down during landing. The pilot stated the tailwheel lock pin did not remain in the locked position. The right main landing gear collapsed and the right wing skin became wrinkled when it contacted the ground resulting in substantial damage. The pilot and three passengers were uninjured. Inspection of the tailwheel by the Federal Aviation Administration revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The airplane veered to the left and off runway 02 (5,000 feet by 100 feet, grooved asphalt) at the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport, Dayton, Ohio, after the tail wheel touched down during landing. The pilot stated the tail wheel lock pin did not remain in the locked position. The right main landing gear collapsed and the right wing skin became wrinkled when it contacted the ground resulting in substantial damage. The pilot and three passengers were uninjured. Inspection of the tail wheel by the Federal Aviation Administration revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N87711
- Reported as
- Beech H-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- BA-650
- Airframe hours
- 6,780
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney 985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pilot
- Registered owner
- Pilot
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 10, 2009
- Departed
- Harrisonburg, VA
- Destination
- MGY · Dayton, OH
- Airport
- MGY · Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport, runway 02, 5,000 × 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
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 1, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,022 total · 279 in this make and model · 1,809 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Observed at
- MGY
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 10, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 684 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.