- Date
- September 24, 2000, 08:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kernville, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N360HWWoodruff Lancair 360
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000924008279A
- Case key
- 50328
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 failed to maintain an adequate airspeed margin, resulting in a stall/mush and hard landing, and failed to maintain directional control and the left main landing gear separated when it struck a rock.
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
The airplane bounced and veered off the left side of the runway. The pilot was on final and maintaining 85 knots as he initiated his flare. During the flare, he encountered wind shear and the airplane dropped from about 5 feet. The left main landing gear struck some large rocks and separated from the airplane. The pilot said a big upslope was near the runway. He estimated the winds to be from 010 degrees at 10 knots.
Factual narrative
On September 24, 2000, about 0830 hours Pacific daylight time, an amateur-built experimental Woodruff Lancair 360, N360HW, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing at Kern Valley Airport, Kernville, California. The private pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot and one passenger were not injured. The personal flight departed Chino, California, about 0745. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot stated he was on final for runway 35 and maintaining 85 knots as he initiated his flare. During the flare, he encountered wind shear and the airplane dropped from about 5 feet. The airplane bounced and veered off the left side of the runway. The left main landing gear struck some large rocks and separated from the airplane. The pilot said a big upslope was near the runway. He estimated the winds to be from 010 degrees at 10 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N360HW
- Reported as
- Woodruff Lancair 360
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 789320631FB
- Airframe hours
- 206
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Harold Woodruff
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 1999 · 106 hours before
- Departed
- CNO · Chino, CA
- Destination
- L05
- Airport
- L05 · Kern Valley, runway 35, 3,500 × 50 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,767 total · 209 in this make and model · 1,746 as pilot in command · 39 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 151 °F, dew point 126 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BFL, 36 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.