- Date
- May 15, 1994, 14:50 local (18:50 UTC)
- Place
- East Haddam, CT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N158YDavis DK-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 18, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940515010759A
- Case key
- 38751
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 the proper glidepath during landing approach.
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
Witnesses saw the airplane make an approach to runway 14, land short of the runway, strike one of a series of 2 feet high fence posts separated the boundary between the airport and a dirt roadway. The right landing gear collapsed, the right wing struck the ground, and the airplane nosed over. According to the pilot's statement, '...at an altitude estimated to be 3 feet. I felt a violent bump to the right landing gear which caused the aircraft to yaw to the right.' The pilot wrote that he had been into the airport many times and, '...I was generally aware of the changes of the facilities.. . But had never recognized the hazard to a low approach presented by this row of poles.'
Factual narrative
On May 15, 1994, about 1525 eastern daylight time, a Davis DK-1, N158Y, piloted by Mr. Richard S. Patenaude, collided with a post while landing at the Goodspeed Airport, East Haddam, Connecticut. The airplane was substantially damaged. The pilot and one passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight was operated under 14 CFR 91.
Witnesses saw the airplane make an approach to runway 14, land short of the runway, and strike a post. According to the witnesses, the landing gear collapsed, a wing struck the ground, and the airplane nosed over.
According to the pilot's statement on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, after the airplane had crossed the airport boundary, "...at an altitude estimated to be 3 feet. I felt a violent bump to the right landing gear which caused the aircraft to yaw to the right."
The pilot wrote in his statement:
...close scrutiny revealed that 3 inches at the bottom curvature of the right tire impacted on the top of an eight inch diameter wood post. The post, one of a series of such posts which demarcate [separate] the boundary between the airport and an dirt roadway...appeared to be a section of a utility pole buried about three feet into the sandy soil, and extending about two feet above local ground level...I was generally aware of the changes to the facilities at Goodspeed, but had never recognized the hazard to a low approach presented by this row of poles.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N158Y
- Reported as
- Davis DK-1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 508
- Airframe hours
- 2,338
- Engine
- Continental C-125, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ye Aerodrome At Chester
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 24, 1993 · 38 hours before
- Departed
- 3B9 · Chester, CT
- Destination
- 42B
- Airport
- 42B · Goodspeed, runway 14, 2,118 × 50 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
- 64
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 1,013 total · 227 in this make and model · 4 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N158Y · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.