- Date
- October 31, 2001, 10:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Bellaire, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1243KLuscombe LL-8-E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20011031029909A
- Case key
- 53727
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 unsuitable terrain for landing selected by the pilot. A factor was the soft terrain.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The floatplane nosed over during landing on grass. The pilot reported he landed the airplane with a slight nose high attitude, using a small amount of power to skid the floats onto the grass at 50 mph. He reported that, "After a measured run out distance of 43' the floats settled thru the grass into the soft sand. At 54' run out distance, [the] floats dug into sand and caused airplane to flip over, upside down." The pilot reported he had been landing floatplanes on grass for 20 years.
Factual narrative
On October 31, 2001, at 1050 eastern standard time, a Luscombe LL-8-E floatplane, N1243K, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over during landing on the grass which paralleled taxiway A at the Antrim County Airport (ACB), Bellaire, Michigan. The airline transport pilot, who had single and multiengine seaplane ratings, was not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight had departed Lake Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Michigan, at 1040 and was making a full stop landing on the grass at ACB. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported he landed the airplane with a slight nose high attitude, using a small amount of power to skid the floats onto the grass at 50 mph. He reported that, "After a measured run out distance of 43' the floats settled thru the grass into the soft sand. At 54' run out distance, [the] floats dug into sand and caused airplane to flip over, upside down." The pilot reported he had been landing floatplanes on grass for 20 years.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1243K
- Reported as
- Luscombe LL-8-E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3970
- Airframe hours
- 1,968
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A41, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John H. VanAndel
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 25, 2001 · 55 hours before
- Departed
- Lake Ellsworth, MI
- Destination
- ACB · Bellaire, MI
- Airport
- ACB · Antrim County
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
- 77
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- December 20, 1999
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 31,500 total · 55 in this make and model · 20,000 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- ACB
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N1243K · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.