- Date
- August 31, 1994, 14:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Five Points, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N80642Globe GC-1B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 18, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940831024479A
- Case key
- 28846
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 inadequate compensation for the existing crosswind condition and his failure to maintain the proper runway alignment.
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 pilot performed a wheel landing with full flaps on a private landing strip. He reported a 90-degree right crosswind at 6 to 8 knots. When he attempted to bring the tail down, the airplane ballooned off the ground and started drifting to the left. He stated that the airplane was slow and about 2 feet off the ground when it contacted a dirt berm 3- to 4-feet high and about 40 feet from the edge of the 38-foot-wide landing strip. The airplane then settled into soft, plowed windrows of farm soil. The pilot reported numerous 'dust devils' in the area that day.
Factual narrative
On August 31, 1994, about 1430 hours Pacific daylight time, a Globe GC-1B, N80642, was substantially damaged following an on- ground loss of control during landing rollout at Five Points, California. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight which had originated at Fresno, California, on the day of the accident at 1405 hours.
The pilot stated that he was landing at the private strip on runway 34 and further reported: "After rolling for about 100 to 200 feet or so, I pulled back on the yoke to plant the tail wheel so I could apply brakes. The aircraft ballooned and was hit with an easterly crosswind which drifted the aircraft to the left. The plane was slow and about 2 feet off the ground as it continued the left drift." The landing gear collided with a 3- to 4-foot berm located 40 feet to the left of the 38-foot-wide runway. The airplane then collided with soft, plowed windrows of farm soil.
The pilot reported that he was landing with full flaps. He reported that the crosswind was 6 knots with gusts to 8 knots from the right at about 90 degrees with "dust devils" in the area.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80642
- Reported as
- Globe GC-1B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1047
- Airframe hours
- 2,831
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Walter Belleville
- Registered owner
- Happy Horizons,Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 25, 1994 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- Q60 · Fresno, CA
- Destination
- NONE · CA
- Airport
- NONE · Private Strip, runway 34, 3,000 × 38 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
- 67
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,439 total · 133 in this make and model · 1,439 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 6 knots, gusting 8
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.