- Date
- February 5, 1998, 14:55 local (22:55 UTC)
- Place
- Hillsboro, OR
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N55740Bromley Steen Skybolt
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 10, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980205000959A
- Case key
- 42755
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 a proper glidepath.
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 reported that after takeoff he remained in the traffic pattern and that he 'was too low on final approach and (the) wheels struck (the) slope leading to (the) end of (the) runway.' The airport manager reported that tire marks from the aircraft were observed approximately 30 feet short of the paved physical end of runway 02 which has a painted displaced threshold of 100 feet (north of its physical end). The landing gear then collapsed and the aircraft skidded down the runway on its belly during which it slid off the west side of the pavement.
Factual narrative
On February 5, 1998, approximately 1455 Pacific standard time, a Bromley Steen Skybolt homebuilt aircraft, N55740, registered to/being flown by a commercial pilot, was substantially damaged during an undershoot and loss of control on landing at Stark's Twin Oaks Airpark, Hillsboro, Oregon. The pilot sustained minor injuries. No flight plan had been filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight, which was personal in nature, was to have been operated under 14CFR91, and originated from the accident airport approximately 1450.
The pilot reported that after takeoff he remained in the traffic pattern and that he "was too low on final approach and (the) wheels struck (the) slope leading to (the) end of (the) runway." The landing gear then collapsed and the aircraft skidded down the runway on its belly during which it slid off the west side of the pavement.
The airport manager reported that tire marks from the aircraft were observed approximately 30 feet short of the paved physical end of runway 02. Runway 02 has a painted displaced threshold of 100 feet (north of its physical end). A witness reported that the aircraft bounced and then re-landed on the asphalt surface during which the left wingtip and propeller struck the ground. The aircraft then veered left off the west side of the runway and rolled down the dirt embankment upon which the runway is built up on, coming to rest in the mud. Winds at Hillsboro airport, located six nautical miles north, were reported at five knots and variable direction at 1450.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N55740
- Reported as
- Bromley Steen Skybolt (STEEN SKYB)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 10GB
- Airframe hours
- 640
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360 A4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Pierson, Jack, L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 13, 1997 · 52 hours before
- Departed
- 7S3
- Airport
- 7S3 · Stark'S Twin Oaks Airpark, runway 2, 2,465 × 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
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 2,269 total · 221 in this make and model · 1,825 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HIO, 6 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.