- Date
- April 21, 2010, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Shelbyville, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4326DMurray Starlite
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 12, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Springfield FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100421033769A
- Case key
- 75816
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 corrosion of the left landing gear rotor and brake, which resulted in the loss of directional control during the landing rollout, and the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection.
Findings · 5
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 when the experimental, amateur-built airplane touched down for landing, the left main tire “locked up” and the airplane veered to the left. The pilot applied full right rudder and aileron, but the airplane continued to veer off the left side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage when it entered a plowed field, which caused the main landing gear to collapse and the left main tire to go through the left wing. Postaccident inspection of the airplane revealed that left main landing gear rotor and brake exhibited rust with “pitting” and “scarring.” The left tire had a bald spot which was consistent with it being “locked up” and skidding. The aircraft logbook indicated that the airplane’s last conditional inspection was conducted on March 24, 2009, which was about 13 months prior to the accident. The accident flight was the first flight since the airplane had been stored for the winter in August 2009. The pilot reported that he “could have removed the wheels and checked them thoroughly” since the airplane had been in a "barn/hangar" over the winter.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that when the experimental, amateur-built airplane touched down for landing, the left main tire “locked up” and the airplane veered to the left. The pilot applied full right rudder and aileron, but the airplane continued to veer off the left side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage when it entered a plowed field, which caused the main landing gear to collapse and the left main tire to go through the left wing. The inspection of the airplane revealed that left main landing gear rotor and brake exhibited rust with “pitting” and “scarring.” The left tire had a bald spot which was consistent with it being “locked up” and skidding. The aircraft logbook indicated that the airplane’s last conditional inspection was conducted on March 24, 2009, which was about 13 months prior to the accident. The accident flight was the first flight since the airplane had been stored for the winter in August, 2009. The pilot reported that he “could have removed the wheels and checked them thoroughly” since the airplane had been in a "barn/hangar" over the winter.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4326D
- Reported as
- Murray Starlite
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 150
- Airframe hours
- 416
- Engine
- Rotax 447 UL, 40 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Denis Boissonneault
- Registered owner
- Coastal Empire Flight Training
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · March 24, 2009
- Departed
- Marion, IA
- Destination
- 2H0 · Shelbyville, IL
- Airport
- 2H0 · Shelby County Airport, runway 18, 4,099 × 75 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
- 37
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 3,714 total · 2 in this make and model · 3,200 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 7 knots
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 18, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.0 MB 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.