- Date
- November 23, 2019, 17:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Clear Lake, MN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N28037Bellanca 1730
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report June 16, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20191123021619A
- Case key
- 100647
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 focus inside the cockpit during the base turn and final approach, which led to a high sink rate developing and a subsequent hard landing short of the runway.
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 was conducting a night visual flight to an airport with dim runway lighting. The pilot stated that, during the base turn and final approach, his attention was focused inside the cockpit as he rechecked the landing gear, mixture lever, and propeller lever positions. He noticed a sink rate had developed as the landing lights illuminated a row of 50- to 75-ft-tall trees on final approach. The pilot pulled back aggressively on the yoke to clear the trees. The airplane continued to descend and impacted the ground hard short of the runway. The fuselage and firewall sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that his attention should have been focused more outside the cockpit during the base turn and final approach and that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The private pilot was conducting a night visual flight to an airport with dim runway lighting. During the base turn and final approach, the pilot stated his attention was focused inside the cockpit as he rechecked the landing gear, mixture lever, and propeller lever positions. He noticed a sink rate had developed as the airplane's landing lights illuminated a row of 50-75 ft trees on the final approach. The pilot pulled back aggressively on the yoke to clear the trees. The airplane continued to sink and impacted the ground with a high descent rate short of the runway, which damaged the fuselage and firewall. Following the accident, the pilot reflected that his attention should have been focused more outside the cockpit during the base turn and final approach. The pilot stated on the accident report form that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N28037
- Reported as
- Bellanca 1730 (A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 79-30949
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 1,935
- Engine
- Continental IO-540, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 2019 · 31 hours before
- Departed
- MGG · Maple Lake, MN
- Destination
- 8Y6 · Clear Lake, MN
- Airport
- 8Y6 · Leaders Clear Lake, runway 36, 3,000 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Stall warning system
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
- 66
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 13, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 248 total · 248 in this make and model · 248 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 240° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.67 inHg
- Observed at
- KSTC, 7 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 26, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.9 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.