- Date
- June 10, 2005, 15:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Niles, MI
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N143WWGrimes SNS-9
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 27, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20050610013559A
- Case key
- 61953
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 airspeed which led to the inadvertent stall/mush, and subsequent impact with the ground.
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 airplane was damaged when it impacted the ground during landing at a private airstrip. The pilot stated, "Got slow on short final. Plane mushed. I added power, but plane stalled and crashed on end of runway." The pilot listed no mechanical failures of the airplane.
Factual narrative
On June 10, about 1515 eastern daylight time, an amateur-built Grimes model SNS-9, N143WW, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage when it impacted the ground during landing at a private airstrip near Niles, Michigan. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The pilot received minor injuries. The flight originated from a private airstrip near Walkerton, Indiana, about 20 minutes prior to the accident.
In a written statement, the pilot stated, "Got slow on short final. Plane mushed. I added power, but plane stalled and crashed on end of runway." The pilot listed no mechanical failures of the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N143WW
- Reported as
- Grimes SNS-9
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 3
- Engine
- Jabiru 22A, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William R. Wolverton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- PVT · Walkerton, IN
- Destination
- PVT · Niles, MI
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
- 62
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Flight hours
- 1,103 total · 487 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.