- Date
- May 1, 1998, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Hilltop Lakes, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5462Schrack Starduster TOO
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980501008319A
- Case key
- 20596
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 failure to obtain/maintain the proper descent rate which resulted in a hard landing.
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
During landing, the tailwheel-equipped biplane bounced and then touched down hard at which point the right main landing gear failed. The airplane exited the left side of the runway and nosed down. The pilot commented that the accident could have been prevented by less sink rate at touchdown.
Factual narrative
On May 1, 1998, approximately 1730 central daylight time, a Schrack Starduster Too amateur-built experimental airplane, N5462, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing at the Hilltop Lakes Airport in Hilltop Lakes, Texas. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private pilot, the sole occupant, who was not injured. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal local flight.
The pilot reported that during a wheel landing, the tailwheel-equipped biplane "bounced at touchdown and a transition to a 3 point landing was made." He further reported that "the resulting touchdown was hard, at which point the right gear apparently failed." The airplane then exited the left side of the runway, the right main landing gear "dug into the sandy soil," and the airplane nosed down. According to the pilot, the accident could have been prevented by "less sink rate at touchdown."
According to the FAA inspector who examined the airplane, the wood spars of the right lower wing and left upper wing were broken.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5462
- Reported as
- Schrack Starduster TOO (STARDUSTER)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Airframe hours
- 644
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Swan D. Person
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 17, 1998 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- T38
- Airport
- T38 · Hilltop Lakes, runway 34, 3,000 × 40 ft, 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
- 65
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 488 total · 25 in this make and model · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N5462 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.