- Date
- October 9, 2003, 17:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Leonardtown, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9271HHoward DGA-15P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 5, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20031009030599A
- Case key
- 58125
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 directional control during an aborted 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
During the touchdown, the pilot did not attain a proper pitch attitude for a 3-point landing, and the airplane bounced. The airplane bounced a second time, and the pilot attempted to perform an aborted landing; however, the airplane was not aligned with the runway, and as the pilot added power, the airplane drifted left. The pilot attempted to correct the drift with right rudder, but the airplane struck a fence off the left side of the runway.
Factual narrative
On October 9, 2003, about 1730 eastern daylight time, a Howard DGA-15P, N9271H, was substantially damaged during an aborted landing at Captain Walter Francis Duke Regional Airport (2W6), Leonardtown, Maryland. The certificated commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot stated that after performing some maneuvers for approximately 20 minutes, he returned to 2W6 for landing on runway 11. The runway was 4,150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and consisted of asphalt. The pilot did not attain the proper pitch attitude for a 3-point landing, and the airplane bounced. The airplane bounced a second time, and the pilot attempted to perform an aborted landing. However, the airplane was not aligned with the runway, and as the pilot added power, the airplane drifted left. The pilot attempted to correct the drift with right rudder, but the airplane struck a fence off the left side of the runway. The airplane came to rest between a grass area and the fence, in a nose-down attitude. During the impact, the right wing and fuselage sustained substantial damage.
The pilot reported a total flight experience of 4,191 hours; of which, about 54 hours were in the same make and model as the accident airplane.
The reported wind at an airport approximately 7 miles east of the accident site, at 1755, was variable at 3 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9271H
- Reported as
- Howard DGA-15P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 776
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Charles Everett
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 2W6 · Leonardtown, MD
- Airport
- 2W6 · Captain Walter Francis Duke Re, runway 11, 4,150 × 75 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
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 4,191 total · 54 in this make and model · 4,100 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- NHK, 7 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.