- Date
- April 16, 2000, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Immokalee, FL
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N238DMBellanca 8KCAB
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000416006599A
- Case key
- 49005
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 misjudged the flare resulting in a hard landing short of the intended landing site, subsequently impacting the ground, and nosing over.
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
According to the pilot while on final approach to the airport, and about 25 to 50 feet above the ground, 'the bottom dropped out coming down hard on [the] landing gear 6 feet short of runway. Ground was soft, pitching the plane on its nose.' According to the FAA inspector's statement the pilot '...did not report any mechanical problems.'
Factual narrative
On April 16, 2000, about 1100 eastern daylight time, a Bellanca 8KCAB, N238DM, owned by a private individual, impacted with the ground while landing at the Immokalee Airport, Immokalee, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was substantially damaged. The commercial-rated pilot and one passenger reported serious injuries. The flight had departed from the same airport, at 1000.
The flight was landing on runway 18. According to the airport manager, the pilot was doing spot landings, and landed short of the runway. The airplane came to rest on runway 18.
According to the pilot, he had stayed in the local traffic pattern, and was doing some landings, when he elected to depart the traffic pattern to do some local flying. Upon return to the airport he said, "...I made a normal approach and normal speed. About 25 to 50 feet [above the ground], the bottom dropped out coming down hard on [the] landing gear 6 feet short of [the] runway. Ground was soft, pitching the plane on its nose."
According to the FAA inspector's statement the pilot "...did not report any mechanical problems."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N238DM
- Reported as
- Bellanca 8KCAB
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19-72
- Airframe hours
- 1,542
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-320-E1A, 150 lbs thrust, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ronald A. Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 3, 1999 · 10 hours before
- Airport
- IMM · Immokalee Regional, runway 18, 5,000 × 150 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
- 78
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 1,796 total · 399 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RSW, 25 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.