Bellanca 8KCAB N8SF

Summary

On 20 June 2016 at about 15:30 local time, a Bellanca 8KCAB registered N8SF, operated by Bountiful Flight, was involved in an accident near Freemont Island, Utah, 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

20 June 2016 at 15:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Freemont Island, Utah, United States

Coordinates

41.1547, -112.3300

Aircraft

Bellanca 8KCAB

Registration

N8SF

Category

Airplane

Year built

1972

Engines

1

Operator

Bountiful Flight

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Woods Cross → Woods Cross

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA16CA341

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, resulting in an impact with an unknown object during aborted landing and consequent ground impact.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that he was demonstrating flight maneuvers to the passenger when the oil filler cowl door unlatched in flight. The flight instructor reported that he feared for their safety, decided to land as soon as possible, and overflew a nearby island airstrip to verify wind direction and identify potential obstacles. During the precautionary landing on the 2,000 foot long by 15 foot wide airstrip, the flight instructor reported that as the airplane slowed and the tailwheel was lowered to the ground, the airplane encountered a wind gust from the left, and the airplane drifted to the right side of the narrow runway. The flight instructor reported that, "it became clear that I could not keep the aircraft on the runway surface, I initiated a go-around." During the aborted landing, the right main landing gear impacted an unknown object, which slowed the airplane's momentum, and the airplane settled to the ground and slid to a stop on the fuselage. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the horizontal stabilizer cables and the right aileron. Inspection of the oil filler cowl latch was conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Safety Inspector assigned to this accident and he found no failure or degradation of the locking mechanism or the latch assembly. Meteorological conditions reported for the airstrip where the accident occurred, reported that about the time of the accident the wind was out of the north-northeast at 7 knots gusting to 9 knots. The flight instructor was landing to the southeast.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.