- Date
- March 3, 1989, 05:30 local (11:30 UTC)
- Place
- Des Moines, IA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5119CCessna 310
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890303002959A
- Case key
- 34761
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 failure of the pilot to properly flare the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the weather conditions.
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
While on the third landing attempt, after two go-arounds, the acft landed hard collapsing the right main gear and veered off the runway. Existing weather conditions were , dark night, 500 ft ceiling, 1 1/2 miles vis and light freezing drizzle. The plt said the control tower turned the lights up to bright intensity to assist him in making visual contact. The plt said the bright lights caused distortion and the illusion of being lower than actual. The acft had accumulated ice on the airframe and deicing equipment was being utilized. The plt said he used higher than normal approach speed because of the ice accumulation and weight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5119C
- Reported as
- Cessna 310
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 310R1420
- Airframe hours
- 6,735
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-M, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John Fudge/Roger Van Pelt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · February 2, 1989 · 88 hours before
- Departed
- MKC · Kansas City, MO
- Destination
- DSM · Des Moines, IA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- DSM · Des Moines, runway 12, 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
- 26
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,041 total · 1,585 in this make and model · 2,753 as pilot in command · 90 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 80° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 27 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DSM, 1 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.