- Date
- September 7, 2007, 19:00 local (Sep 8, 2007, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- La Verne, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7298RBeech F33A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 28, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 66613
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
An improper flare during touchdown and an inadequate bounced landing recovery. Contributing to the accident was an excessive airspeed and an inadvertent porpoise.
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 said that his approach to landing was normal, but he flew the base leg a little wide. He reported that his airspeed on short final approach was too fast, and the airplane ballooned during the flare. The airplane landed hard, porpoised, and landed hard again on its nose gear. The nose gear collapsed under the fuselage crushing the engine cowling and bending the keel beam.
Factual narrative
On September 7, 2007, at 1900 Pacific daylight time, a Beech F-33A, N7298R, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Brackett Field Airport (POC), La Verne, California. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight, which originated from Red Bluff, California, approximately 3 hours before the accident. No flight plan had been filed.
The pilot said that he had departed Victoria International Airport (CYYJ), Sidney, Canada, at 1230. He stopped at Friday Harbor, Washington, for customs, and proceeded to Red Bluff, California, for fuel. The weather had been good and the flight had been uneventful. He said that his approach to Brackett Field was normal, but he flew the base leg a little wide. His short final speed was too fast, and the airplane ballooned during the flare. The airplane landed hard, porpoised, and landed hard again on its nose gear. The nose gear collapsed under the fuselage crushing the engine cowling and bending the keel beam.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7298R
- Reported as
- Beech F33A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- CE-557
- Airframe hours
- 4,196
- Engine
- Continental IO-550-B4F, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Lawrence R. Manzer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 2007
- Departed
- RBL · Red Bluff, CA
- Destination
- POC · La Verne, CA
- Airport
- POC · Brackett Field Airport, runway 26L, 4,839 × 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
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 1, 2007
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,050 total · 1,962 in this make and model · 1,954 as pilot in command · 42 in the last 90 days · 28 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- ONT, 11 nm away