- Date
- September 2, 2000, 11:45 local (15:45 UTC)
- Place
- Williamstown, NJ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N521SMihlebach Waco
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 8, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000902043469A
- Case key
- 50224
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 execute an adequate flare, which resulted in a hard landing.
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
At the end of a local VFR flight, the pilot flared the homebuilt airplane to land, and it touched down hard. The left axle bracket separated, and the airplane came to rest inverted. The pilot was the builder of the airplane.
Factual narrative
On September 2, 2000, about 1145 Eastern Daylight Time, a homebuilt Waco, N521S, was substantially damaged during landing at Southern Cross Airport, Williamstown, New Jersey. The certificated private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal local flight conducted 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, he entered a "standard pattern" for Runway 27, and that the downwind, base, and final portions of the traffic pattern were "normal." When the pilot flared the airplane, it bounced, and then nosed over.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, the pilot flared to land on the runway, and the airplane touched down hard. The left axle bracket weld separated, and the airplane came to rest inverted. The pilot was the manufacturer of the airplane, and had welded the separated component.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N521S
- Reported as
- Mihlebach Waco
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 002GM
- Airframe hours
- 47
- Engine
- Continental W670-6A, 220 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gustav Mihlebach
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 18, 1999 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- C01
- Airport
- C01 · Souther Cross, runway 27, 2,400 × 80 ft, grass/turf
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 49
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 666 total · 45 in this make and model · 4 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MIV, 23 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.