- Date
- August 23, 1998, 15:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Breezy Point, MN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N310XCessna 310B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980823021539A
- Case key
- 43756
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 improper flare of the airplane, and his not maintaining control of the airplane.
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 would not comment on the accident. He was not communicative with investigators. His pilot's certificate had previously been revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration. One witness who heard a loud noise when the airplane landed, first observed it skid off the runway and then saw it spin around. An examination of the airplane after the accident revealed mechanical damage that could be associated with the accident landing.
Factual narrative
On August 23, 1998, at 1530 central daylight time, a Cessna 310B, N310X, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing on runway 36, at Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. The private pilot and one passenger reported no injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The flight departed Crystal Airport near Minneapolis, Minnesota, exact time unknown.
Repeated attempts to communicate with the pilot were futile. The pilot did not return NTSB inquiries, messages or the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, which was mailed to him. It was learned that the pilot's certificate was revoked on August 28, 1995, by order of the Federal Aviation Administration. There is no record of the certificate restoration, a current medical, or biennial flight review. The passenger was not a rated pilot.
Subsequent to the accident the pilot refused to communicate with inspectors of the Federal Aviation Administration or local police authorities. At the time of the accident, he did admit to local authorities that he was the pilot after first claiming his son was the pilot (the son was not present at the time of the accident), and later saying that the passenger was the pilot, before admitting that he was flying at the time of the accident. He made no comments on the accident or how it happened.
One resident who lives adjacent to the airport stated that she heard the airplane land and that it made a "loud boom" when it touched down. She indicated that she did not see the touchdown; however, when the airplane came into her view she saw it, "... skid off the runway ... do a doughnut and came to a stop."
An examination of the airplane after the accident did not reveal any damage or mechanical anomalies other that those attained during the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N310X
- Reported as
- Cessna 310B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 35637
- Engine
- Continental O-470-M, 240 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Corey L. Gerulis
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MIC · Minneapolis, MN
- Destination
- NONE · Breezy Point, MN
- Airport
- NONE · Breezy Point Airport, runway 36, 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
- 55
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 7 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PWC
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.