- Date
- May 14, 2012, 16:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- El Dorado, KS
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N68543Bellanca 7GCAA
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 15, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20120514009609A
- Case key
- 83661
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 loss of directional control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion.
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 made a full-stall landing on the runway with a left crosswind and lost directional control after landing. The airplane departed the right side of the runway and impacted a deep ditch. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations.
Factual narrative
On May 14, 2012, about 1630 central daylight time, a Bellanca 7GCAA, N68543, went off the right side of runway 15 and impacted a ditch at Captain Jack Thomas Airport (KEQA), El Dorado, Kansas. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight originated from Benton (K1K1), Kansas, about 1545. The pilot said he was making a full-stall landing to the south with an east to west wind. Upon touchdown, he lost directional control and the airplane went off the right side of the runway and into a deep ditch. The right main landing gear separated from the airframe, and the right wing was damaged when it struck the embankment. The pilot reported no mechanical discrepancies with the airplane prior to the accident. His recommendation for preventing this accident was for him to receive additional training in the airplane and acquire more proficiency. Although he indicated he had logged 1,900 total hours and 600 hours in single-engine airplanes, he had only 1 hour in the Bellanca 7GCAA. An examination of the airplane and related systems revealed no anomalies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N68543
- Reported as
- Bellanca 7GCAA
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 247-72
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Troy A. Waltermath
- Registered owner
- Troy A. Waltermath
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- K1K1 · Benton, KS
- Destination
- KEQA · El Dorado, KS
- Airport
- KEQA · Capt. Jack Thomas/El Dorado, runway 15, 4,200 × 75 ft, concrete
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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 10, 2010
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 1,900 total · 1 in this make and model · 1,900 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 22, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 219 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.