- Date
- November 18, 2021, 12:30 UTC
- Place
- Jonestown, PA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N47523Aeronca O58B
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/ FSDO
- FAA report
- 20211118022049A
- Case key
- 104289
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 incorrect glide path and landing flare, which resulted in a collision with obstacles on final approach and a hard landing.
Findings · 4
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 while on short final he slowed the airplane down and “flared too soon over the runway which caused a hard landing.” Subsequently, the main landing gear collapsed on the grass runway and the airplane skidded to a stop upright. The fuselage sustained substantial damage. Photographs of the accident site revealed that a small bird house attached to a metal pole was struck by the tail of the airplane. The pole was about 5 ft tall co-located with a white fence and was located about 35-40 ft prior to a yellow tire that marked the location of the grass runway’s threshold. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N47523
- Reported as
- Aeronca O58B (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 058B-10753
- Built
- 1943
- Airframe hours
- 1,519
- Engine
- Continental C-85, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 11, 2021
- Departed
- 9N7 · Fredericksburg, PA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 8PA1 · Dee Jay, runway 09/27, 1,800 × 125 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- None
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 14, 2020
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 609 total · 54 in this make and model · 609 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot-rated passenger
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Seat
- Rear
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- MUI, 3 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KMUI 181656Z 20003KT 10SM FEW070 FEW250 14/10 A2998 RMK AO2A SLP157 T01400100=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 20, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 15.7 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.