- Date
- September 12, 2009, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Port Huron, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N44062Sierra E5A Replica
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 29, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Detroit FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090912049339A
- Case key
- 74727
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 maintain aircraft control during landing.
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 pilot reported that he returned to the traffic pattern after a 45-minute flight in the amateur-built, World War I replica airplane. During the landing touchdown, the airplane bounced once and veered to the left. The pilot reported that “the aircraft traveled sideway for 50 – 75 feet.” The landing gear “folded” and the left wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that he had about 10 hours of flight time in the airplane, and that the airplane was a “delight to fly” but the landings were always “tricky.” The inspection of the airplane did not reveal any evidence of pre-impact failure or malfunction.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he returned to the traffic pattern after a 45-minute flight in the amateur-built, World War I replica airplane. During the landing touchdown, the airplane bounced once and veered to the left. The pilot reported that “the aircraft traveled sideway for 50 – 75 feet.” The landing gear “folded” and the left wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that he had about 10 hours of flight time in the airplane, and that the airplane was a “delight to fly” but the landings were always “tricky.” The inspection of the airplane did not reveal any evidence of pre-impact failure or malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N44062
- Reported as
- Sierra E5A Replica
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 98507
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Thomas A Pell
- Registered owner
- Thomas A Pell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- PHN · Port Huron, MI
- Destination
- PHN · Port Huron, MI
- Airport
- PHN · St. Clair County Municipal, runway 04
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
- 65
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Flight hours
- 200 total · 10 in this make and model · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 22, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 656 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.