- Date
- May 8, 1999, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Butte, MT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N124GHEugene Hughes Lancair IV
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990508005039A
- Case key
- 46308
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 improper flare.
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 he was practicing a short field approach with a high rate of descent. The pilot stated that he did not maintain sufficient airspeed to arrest the descent and the aircraft landed hard. The left main landing gear collapsed, and as the aircraft departed the side of the runway, the left wing collided with runway markers.
Factual narrative
On May 8, 1999, about 1530 mountain daylight time, a Lancair IV, N124GH, registered to and operated by the pilot as a 14 CFR Part 91 pleasure flight, landed hard at the Bert Mooney Airport, Butte, Montana, and veered off the runway. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated from Butte, about 15 minutes prior to the accident.
In a written statement, the pilot reported that he was practicing a short field approach with a high rate of descent. The pilot stated that he did not maintain sufficient airspeed to arrest the descent and the aircraft landed hard. The left main landing gear collapsed, and as the aircraft departed the side of the runway, the left wing collided with runway markers.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N124GH
- Reported as
- Eugene Hughes Lancair IV
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- LIV-080
- Airframe hours
- 99
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-550-B, 350 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Eugene F. Hughes
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 28, 1998 · 99 hours before
- Departed
- BTM
- Airport
- BTM · Bert Mooney, runway 29, 5,101 × 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
- 55
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,620 total · 99 in this make and model · 2,449 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F
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 N124GH · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.