- Date
- February 7, 2004, 12:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Groveland, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5032GBellanca 7ECA
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20040207000869A
- Case key
- 58789
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 maintain a proper glide path and misjudged landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing. Also causal was the pilot's inadequate recovery from a bounced landing, resulting in a loss of directional control and collision with terrain
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 made a hard landing and veered of the runway while attempting to land. When the airplane was on final approach, the pilot determined that he was high above the glide path, but elected to perform the landing. During touchdown, the airplane hit hard and bounced back into the air. Upon returning back down onto the runway, the airplane veered to the left. It continued off the runway and encountered a ditch. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On February 7, 2004, about 1200 Pacific standard time, a Bellanca 7ECA, N5032G, made a hard landing and veered of the runway at Pine Mountain Lake Airport (Q68), Groveland, California. The airplane was registered to a private individual, and operated by Amelia Reid Aviation under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County (RHV), San Jose, California, about 1045. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed.
In a written statement, the pilot reported that he was attempting to land on runway 27. When the airplane was on final approach, he determined that he was high above the glide path, but elected to perform the landing. During touchdown, the airplane hit hard and bounced back into the air. Upon returning back down onto the runway, the airplane veered to the left. It continued off the runway and encountered a ditch. The damage to airplane included the left wing main spar cracking, and the left main gear separated from the airframe. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5032G
- Reported as
- Bellanca 7ECA
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1875-15
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert W. Reid III, doing business as Amelia Reid Aviation
- Registered owner
- Ameila Reid
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic; Standard, Normal
- Departed
- RHV · San Jose, CA
- Destination
- Q68 · Groveland, CA
- Airport
- Q68 · Pine Mountain Lake Airport, runway 27
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 117 total · 80 in this make and model · 7 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Observed at
- 022, 16 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.
Other investigations on N5032G · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.