- Date
- December 12, 2017, 14:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Rogersburg, OR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N552EZCorbeil Shawn Corbeil Shawn SER VI
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 27, 2018
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20171212023489A
- Case key
- 96474
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 and his subsequent failure to see and avoid a tree during a go-around.
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 landing on an unimproved airstrip, the approach was normal, but after "a longer than expected float and brief touchdown," he aborted the landing and began a go-around. Once airborne, he made a shallow left turn to avoid a cliff that was off the right side of the unimproved airstrip. Subsequently, the left wing struck a tree, and the airplane then cartwheeled and impacted the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, while landing on an unimproved airstrip, the approach was normal but after "a longer than expected float and brief touchdown", he aborted the landing and began a go-around. Once airborne, he made a shallow left turn to avoid a cliff that was off the right side of the unimproved airstrip. Subsequently, the left wing struck a tree, the airplane cartwheeled and impacted the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N552EZ
- Reported as
- Corbeil Shawn Corbeil Shawn SER VI (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 60010-040
- Built
- 2002
- Airframe hours
- 324
- Engine
- Rotax 912S, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 9, 2017
- Departed
- MYL · Mc Call, ID
- Destination
- Rogersburg, OR
- 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 20, 2016
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 763 total · 300 in this make and model · 714 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.42 inHg
- Observed at
- KGIC, 29 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 13, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 801 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.