- Date
- July 16, 2022, 08:10 local (12:10 UTC)
- Place
- Okeechobee, FL · on Airport
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N150MMEaster William C M-1
- Defining event
- Approach-IFR final approach: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- 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
- 20220716012439A
- Case key
- 106071
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The premature placement of an airport runway closure marker short of the runway, which resulted in the airplane’s collision with the marker during the landing approach. Contributing was the pilot’s inability to see the marker due the nose-high attitude of the airplane during the approach.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings.
Analysis
The pilot landed on a runway that was scheduled to be closed about 9 minutes after he arrived. A NOTAM had been issued about the closure. The pilot was aware of the NOTAM and confirmed the runway was still open by communicating over the airport’s common traffic advisory frequency before he landed. The pilot said that when he was on short final approach to the runway, the airplane struck the top cross-arms of an unlit airport runway closure marker. The pilot was subsequently able to land safely. The pilot said he was unable to see the marker as he approached the runway due to the nose-high flight attitude of his airplane on approach. The impact with the marker resulted in substantial damage to the airplane’s wing spar. A representative of the engineering company contracted by the airport acknowledged to the Federal Aviation Administration that their employees had moved the marker in front of the runway’s threshold prior to it being closed because they thought they had permission to do so by the airport; however, the person or entity who had granted that permission was never determined.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N150MM
- Reported as
- Easter William C M-1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- M-1-1115
- Built
- 1984
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- OBE · Okeechobee Couty AIrport, runway 05, 5,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- April 30, 2021
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 540 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 77 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KOBE
- METAR
- METAR KOBE 161200Z AUTO 04003KT 10 SM CLR 25/25 A3004 RMK AO2
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 24, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 593 KB 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.