- Date
- June 12, 2023, 09:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Chelan, WA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N88GJJohnson Gary L Fisher Horizon 1
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20230612007539A
- Case key
- 192405
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 selection of a touchdown point and delayed recognition, which resulted in an impact with an obstacle.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he was practicing touch and go maneuvers in the airport traffic pattern. During his second approach to land, the pilot improperly selected his touchdown point at the beginning of the runway instead of the runway threshold. When the pilot recognized he was not on the runway glide path by looking at the “visual approach slope indicator lights” (airport has a precision approach path indicator), he increased power to arrest his descent rate, but the right main landing gear collided with a road sign at the north end of the runway before the displaced threshold. The airplane impacted the ground, nosed over and came to rest inverted on the runway, and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions and anomalies that could have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N88GJ
- Reported as
- Johnson Gary L Fisher Horizon 1
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- HO 1186
- Built
- 2008
- Airframe hours
- 233
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · March 4, 2023 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- S10 · Chelan, WA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- S10 · Lake Chelan, runway 20, 3,506 × 60 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
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 5, 2023
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 130 total · 2 in this make and model · 77 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- KEAT, 30 nm away
- METAR
- KEAT 121655Z AUTO 23004KT 10SM CLR 24/13 A2992 RMK AO2 SLP124 T02390133
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 26, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.