- Date
- October 16, 1988, 20:05 local (Oct 17, 1988, 00:05 UTC)
- Place
- Ypsilanti, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N48DSExperimental Barracuda
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881016050089A
- Case key
- 14174
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
Pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft during landing and inability to appropriately correct for the porpoise action of the aircraft.
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
While enroute to lansing, Michigan (lan) the pilot of this amateur built barracuda was forced to deviate to Ypsilanti's willow run airport (yip), due to thunderstorms on the flight path. On landing, he experienced a hard touchdown and the acft began to porpoise. While attempting a go-around, the acft hit hard again, driving the main gear through the wings.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N48DS
- Reported as
- Experimental Barracuda
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 216
- Airframe hours
- 850
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Charles R. Stiles
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 19, 1987 · 90 hours before
- Departed
- IND · Indianapolis, IN
- Destination
- YIP · Ypsilanti, MI
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- YIP · Willow Run, runway 23, 7,526 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 850 in this make and model · 1,300 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 230° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft broken
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- YIP
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.