- Date
- July 18, 1996, 12:40 local (16:40 UTC)
- Place
- Gowanda, NY
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N695WMKolb Mark III
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 1, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960718047379A
- Case key
- 39220
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
failure of the pilot to properly flare the airplane during the 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
The pilot was conducting a visual approach and landing to his private airstrip. He stated, 'On landing approach, I let the airspeed get too low, the aircraft hit the runway hard enough to damage the gear and fuselage.' He also reported that there were no malfunctions with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On July 18, 1996, about 1240 eastern daylight time, a Kolb Mark III, a homebuilt, N695WM, received minor damage during a hard landing at a private airstrip near Gowanda, New York. The private pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight. No flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated:
"On landing approach, I let the airspeed get too low, the aircraft hit the runway hard enough to damage the gear and fuselage."
The pilot also reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane, and that he had a total flight experience of 272 hours, of which 6 were in this make and model.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N695WM
- Reported as
- Kolb Mark III
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 496
- Airframe hours
- 6
- Engine
- Rotax 582, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Herbert L. Twichell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- NONE
- Airport
- NONE · Twichell, runway 27, 1,000 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 68
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 272 total · 6 in this make and model · 272 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BUF, 30 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.