Beechcraft A36 N1861M

Summary

On 6 April 2024 at about 22:02 local time, a Beechcraft A36 registered N1861M was involved in an accident near Cleveland, Ohio, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 April 2024 at 22:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Cleveland-Hopkins Intl (CLE)

Coordinates

41.4056, -81.8645

Aircraft

Beechcraft A36

Registration

N1861M

Category

Airplane

Year built

1981

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Norfolk → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA24LA165

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during landing, resulting in a hard, bounced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting a practice instrument landing system approach in visual meteorological conditions. During the landing approach, the pilot was provided a caution for wake turbulence due to a departing regional jet. During the landing flare, about 5 feet above the runway, the airplane descended suddenly and impacted the ground hard on the main landing gear before it “rocked to [the] nosewheel harshly.” The pilot attempted to abort the landing the airplane did not respond as he expected, and after several more bounces down the runway the airplane came to rest with its nose resting on the ground. A small postaccident fire damaged the area around the airplane’s engine, and the airplane’s wings were substantially damaged during the accident. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Airport surveillance video and data recovered from the airplane’s electronic flight instruments showed that at the time of the accident a 10 to 13 knot left quartering headwind prevailed. Additionally, review of air traffic control data showed that an airliner had departed from a parallel runway about 1 minute before the accident airplane crossed the runway threshold. The parallel runway was to the right, and downwind of the runway the accident pilot was approaching, therefore it is unlikely that wake turbulence from the departing airplane impacted the accident airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.