- Date
- January 30, 2011, 15:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Crescent City, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N324ALOtterback Nicholas J Lightning
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 8, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110130002049A
- Case key
- 78404
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 inadequate flare and failure to recover from a bounced landing which resulted in a runway excursion.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to the pilot, on the first approach to land the airplane's speed was too fast and he elected to perform a go-around. On the second approach, the airspeed was too fast again and the airplane bounced twice upon landing. He applied full power in an attempt to abort the landing. During the takeoff, the left main landing gear separated from the airplane and it veered off the left side of the runway. The airplane impacted an embankment and a tree resulting in substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies and the pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, on the first approach to land, he was going too fast and performed a go-around. The pilot stated that on the second approach, the airspeed did not bleed off fast enough, and the airplane bounced twice upon landing. The pilot applied full power to take off, but the left main wheel separated from the airplane and it veered off the left side of the runway. The airplane impacted an embankment and a tree resulting in substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies, and the pilot did not report any mechanical failures or malfunctions.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N324AL
- Reported as
- Otterback Nicholas J Lightning
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 59
- Airframe hours
- 347
- Engine
- Jabiru 3300, 120 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ezell Richard D
- Registered owner
- Ezell Richard D
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 13, 2010
- Departed
- DCY · Decatur, AL
- Destination
- FD44 · Crescent City, FL
- Airport
- FD44 · Eagles Nest Aerodrome, runway 36, 3,200 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 4, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,967 total · 140 in this make and model · 1,848 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- XFL, 21 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 2, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.