Haphey Bruce Frederic MUSTANG II N59PB

Summary

On 11 July 2015 at about 01:45 local time, a Haphey Bruce Frederic MUSTANG II registered N59PB was involved in an accident near Palatka, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 July 2015 at 01:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Palatka, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Palatka Municipal Airport (28J)

Coordinates

29.6586, -81.6883

Aircraft

Haphey Bruce Frederic MUSTANG II

Registration

N59PB

Category

Airplane

Year built

1992

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Andalusia → Green Cove

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

ERA15CA264

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to maintain airplane control during a balked landing and attempted go-around in dark night conditions and without a landing light, which resulted in collision with terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a cross country flight, the pilot of the experimental amateur built airplane encountered thunderstorms along his route.  This added an additional 45 minutes of unanticipated flight time. He was concerned that night conditions were present, his airplane was not equipped with a landing light, and his destination airport was not lighted; as a result, he decided to divert to another airport which was equipped with lighting and had a longer paved runway. During his first attempt to land at the diversion airport, he was too fast on final approach and elected to go-around. During his second attempt to land, he misjudged his rate of descent and landed hard. The airplane then bounced twice. After the second bounce, he attempted to recover and go-around by adding full power and right rudder but the airplane entered a left roll, struck the ground with its left wingtip, and then cartwheeled, separating the engine before coming to rest inverted. During his egress from the airplane, the pilot received minor injuries. Examination of the airplane revealed that it was substantially damaged.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.