- Date
- July 22, 2021, 19:00 local (Jul 23, 2021, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Baraboo, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N51CFBoeing E75
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Milwaukee FSDO
- FAA report
- 20210722011349A
- Case key
- 103529
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 clearance from the fence while on final approach.
Findings · 3
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 of the biplane reported that while on the final approach for the grass runway, he was maneuvering the airplane for landing to touchdown at the runway threshold markers. The airplane impacted an unmarked gray metal chain-link fence, about 8 ft tall, located about 250 ft from the runway threshold markers. The pilot reported the “fence blended in pretty well with the grass.” The airplane came to rest inverted on the runway and sustained substantial damage to both wings and the empennage. The pilot stated that the visibility at the time of the accident was “good,” and the lighting was “a little unusual from all the fires out west and I never saw the fence.” The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe and the engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N51CF
- Reported as
- Boeing E75
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 75-5604
- Built
- 1941
- Airframe hours
- 3,677
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-985 Series, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 25, 2021
- Departed
- MCW · Mason City, IA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- DLL · Baraboo-Wisconsin Dells Rgnl, runway 14/32, 2,746 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B
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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 25, 2021
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 3,032 total · 134 in this make and model · 2,883 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 33 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- KDLL
- METAR
- KDLL 222355Z AUTO 20003KT 10SM CLR 27/20 A3009 RMK AO2 T02650195 10280 20252
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 27, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.3 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.