- Date
- August 18, 2012, 17:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Bayport, NY
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N343SFFleet Fleet 16B
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 14, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120818016509A
- Case key
- 84753
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 landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing.
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
The pilot reported that he returned to the departure airport after a brief local flight and entered the traffic pattern. While on final approach to the runway, he initiated a slip to the left to descend and increase his visibility of the runway. The pilot stated that during previous flights in the tailwheel-equipped biplane, after he exited the slip just before touchdown, the airplane would "float" down the runway in ground effect. However, when he exited the slip during the accident flight, the rate of descent remained constant, and the airplane's contact with the runway was "fairly severe." The landing gear subsequently collapsed, and the airplane departed the right side of the runway and nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the right upper wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and that the accident could have been prevented by a "quicker reaction" and "increasing [engine] power to arrest descent rate."
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that following a brief local flight, he returned to the departure airport and entered the traffic pattern. While on final approach to the runway, he initiated a slip to the left in order to descend and increase the visibility of the runway. The pilot stated that during previous flights in the tailwheel-equipped biplane, after exiting the slip just prior to touchdown, the airplane's airspeed would increase, and it would "float" down the runway; however, upon exiting the slip during the accident flight the rate of descent remained constant, and the airplane's contact with the runway was "fairly severe." The landing gear subsequently collapsed, and the airplane departed the right side of the runway and nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the right upper wing. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and that the accident could have been prevented by a "quicker reaction" and "increasing [engine] power to arrest descent rate."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N343SF
- Reported as
- Fleet Fleet 16B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 343
- Airframe hours
- 1,635
- Engine
- Kinner R5 SERIES, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Martin Stephen S
- Registered owner
- Martin Stephen S
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 4, 2012 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- 23N · Bayport, NY
- Destination
- 23N · Bayport, NY
- Airport
- 23N · Bayport Aerodrome, runway 36, 2,740 × 150 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
- 54
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 10, 2012
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 1,460 total · 377 in this make and model · 1,393 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.82 inHg
- Observed at
- ISP, 3 nm away
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 27, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.0 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.