- Date
- May 8, 2015, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Canandaigua, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N170HBBuhlmann Howard HB-1
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing area undershoot
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 8, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20150508005919A
- Case key
- 91170
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 land beyond the marked runway threshold, which resulted in a collision with a culvert and a loss of control on the ground.
Findings · 3
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
Due to the crosswind component, the pilot chose to land on an unpublished grass runway on the airport. According to the pilot, he approached the landing area low and slow without sufficient power to clear a culvert prior to the intended touchdown zone. The right landing gear impacted the culvert and the airplane departed the left side of the runway. The airplane came to rest after impacting a ditch to the left of the grass runway. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right side of the fuselage.
Factual narrative
Due to the crosswind component, the pilot chose to land on an unpublished grass runway on the airport. According to the pilot, he approached the landing area low and slow without sufficient power to clear a culvert prior to the intended touchdown zone. The right landing gear impacted the culvert and the airplane departed the left side of the runway. The airplane came to rest after impacting a ditch to the left of the grass runway. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right side of the fuselage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N170HB
- Reported as
- Buhlmann Howard HB-1 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 960401
- Built
- 2009
- Airframe hours
- 349.2
- Engine
- Jabiru 2200A, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Buhlmann Howard C
- Registered owner
- Buhlmann Howard C
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · April 25, 2015
- Departed
- D38 · Canandaigua, NY
- Destination
- D38 · Canandaigua, NY
- Airport
- D38 · Canandaigua
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
- 78
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 800 total · 359 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- KPEO, 20 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 30, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 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.