- Date
- July 29, 1989, 15:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Cottage Grove, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N13EGJames Eggleston Varieze
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 25, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890729025609A
- Case key
- 14210
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 misjudged altitude and distance to the runway and failed to attain the proper touchdown point for a landing. Factors related to the accident were: adverse weather conditions and uneven terrain short of the runway.
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 pilot said that he encountered low ceilings and rain during cruise flight and elected to divert to an alternate destination. During the third attempt to land, rain obscured the approach end of the landing runway. The pilot lost sight of the runway and the aircraft touched down short of the threshold. The aircraft was then damaged as it rolled over uneven terrain short of the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N13EG
- Reported as
- James Eggleston Varieze
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 235
- Airframe hours
- 49
- Engine
- Continental C-85-12, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James O. Eggleston
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 25, 1989 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- VPZ · Valparaiso, IN
- Airport
- 52C · Blackhawk Field, runway 27, 2,600 × 40 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
- 69
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 480 total · 53 in this make and model · 20 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MSN, 8 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.