SEA05LA134

NTSB accident investigation · Jones Long EZ · Marsing, ID · June 28, 2005

Accident · FatalLimited investigationFinal report
Date
June 28, 2005, 10:25 local (16:25 UTC)
Place
Marsing, ID
Injuries
1 fatal, 1 minor
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Approach
Aircraft
N58LDJones Long EZ
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed · report February 28, 2006
Report
Approved by Office Director
Parties
FAA FSDO
FAA report
20050628012969A
Case key
61826

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 airspeed during landing, and his subsequent delay in attempting a recovery from a bounced landing. A contributing factor was the taxiway berm.

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.

Loss of control - in flightApproach - vfr pattern - final approach
Airspeed - not maintainedPilot in commandCause
Stall - inadvertentPilot in command
Recovery from bounced landing - delayedPilot in commandCause
On ground/water encounter with terrain/waterLanding - roll
Terrain condition - bermFactor

Analysis

The pilot was performing a landing, and as he crossed the end of the runway he slowed the airplane and then stalled it. The passenger said that "he felt the bottom drop out and he knew they were going to bounce." He said that the airplane landed hard, and bounced up and drifted to the left. When it came down the second time, the left main wheel was off the runway in soft dirt, further pulling the airplane left. He said the pilot applied power "in an attempt to go around." Subsequently the airplane struck a perpendicular taxiway with a drainage culvert through it, which separated the main landing gear from the fuselage. The airplane proceeded forward and struck a second taxiway, badly damaging the nose of the fuselage. The pilot was fatally injured.

Factual narrative

On June 28, 2005, at approximately 1025 mountain daylight time, a Jones Long EZ, amateur built experimental aircraft, N58LD, was substantially damaged during a landing attempt at Sunrise Skypark Airport, Marsing, Idaho. The private pilot was fatally injured and his passenger received minor injuries. The pilot/owner was conducting the flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local personal flight which had originated approximately 25 minutes before the accident. A flight plan had not been filed.

The passenger said that the pilot was performing a landing on runway 30. He said that as they crossed the "numbers" the airplane's speed slowed, and the airplane stalled. The passenger said that "he felt the bottom drop out and he knew they were going to bounce." He said that the airplane landed hard, and bounced up and drifted to the left. When it came down the second time, the left main wheel was off the runway in soft dirt, further pulling the airplane left. He said the pilot applied power "in an attempt to go around." Subsequently the airplane struck a perpendicular taxiway with a drainage culvert through it, which separated the main landing gear from the fuselage. The airplane proceeded forward and struck a second taxiway, badly damaging the nose of the fuselage.

The pilot built the airplane in 1988; he had accumulated approximately 258 hours of flight time in the aircraft.

The Owyhee County Corner, from Murphy, Idaho, ordered an autopsy to be done on the pilot, which was completed on June 29, 2005, in Nampa, Idaho. The Forensic Pathologist that performed the autopsy determined that the cause of death was due to an aviation accident. The Federal Aviation Administration's Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, performed toxicology test on the pilot. According to CAMI's report (#200500146001), the blood and vitreous samples that were tested for carbon monoxide, cyanide, and volatiles (ethanol) found negative results. The blood and urine were tested for drugs and found Atenolol, the generic name for Tenormin. The Physicians Desk References states that "Tenormin, a type of medication known as a beta blocker, is used in the treatment of high blood pressure, angina pectoris, and heart attack."

Aircraft

Registration
N58LD
Reported as
Jones Long EZ
Category
Airplane, amateur-built
Serial number
1696
Engine
Lycoming O-235, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Personal · Part 91
Registered owner
David W. Jones
Airworthiness certificate
Special, Experimental (Special)
Departed
EUL · Caldwell, ID
Destination
ID40 · Marsing, ID
Airport
ID40 · Sunrise Skypark Airport, runway 30, 2,897 × 40 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
68
Injuries
Fatal
Certificate
Private
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land
Medical
Class 3, With waivers/limitations
Seat
Front
Toxicology
Performed
Flight hours
3,650 total · 2 in the last 24 hours

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
320° at 8 knots
Visibility
10 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
6,000 ft overcast
Temperature
63 °F, dew point 52 °F
Altimeter
29.96 inHg
Observed at
EUL, 15 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.