Beechcraft A23-24 N5771V

Summary

On 30 May 2016 at about 08:30 local time, a Beechcraft A23-24 registered N5771V was involved in an accident near Clintonville, Wisconsin, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 May 2016 at 08:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Clintonville, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Clintonville Municipal Airport (CLI)

Coordinates

44.6133, -88.7308

Aircraft

Beechcraft A23-24

Registration

N5771V

Category

Airplane

Year built

1966

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tell → Clintonville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN16LA206

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain the proper glidepath during the night visual approach, which resulted in impact with a runway threshold light, and his improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's fatigue.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was completing a cross-country flight from Florida to Wisconsin. He stated that he got a full night's sleep prior to departing on the flight around 1100. About 0330, he was approaching the airport for the third and final fuel stop of the trip. Although the surface observation at the airport indicated that night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, the pilot noticed that, as he approached the airport, the runway and precision approach path indicator (PAPI) lights were partially obscured by ground fog. About 250 ft above ground level on final approach, the PAPI lights indicated that the airplane was below the approach path, and the pilot attempted to correct by applying engine power. He reported that the landing felt normal, then the nose landing gear "gave out," and the airplane skidded about 300 ft down the runway before coming to rest. Examination of the runway surface revealed tire skid marks consistent with the airplane touching down about 40 ft right of the runway centerline at the beginning of the paved surface. The airplane's left horizontal stabilizer displayed an indentation and paint transfer consistent with impact with a runway threshold light. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no preexisting anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. It is possible that the pilot may have lost visual contact with the airport environment due to ground fog as the airplane neared the runway, which resulted in the short and right-of-centerline landing. Although the pilot stated that he did not feel tired during the accident flight, it is likely that he was experiencing symptoms of fatigue as a result of his extended time awake prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.