Aviation Accident Summaries

Aviation Accident Summary SEA05LA134

Marsing, ID, USA

Aircraft #1

N58LD

Jones Long EZ

Analysis

The pilot was performing a landing, and as he crossed the end of the runway he slowed the airplane and then stalled it. The passenger said that "he felt the bottom drop out and he knew they were going to bounce." He said that the airplane landed hard, and bounced up and drifted to the left. When it came down the second time, the left main wheel was off the runway in soft dirt, further pulling the airplane left. He said the pilot applied power "in an attempt to go around." Subsequently the airplane struck a perpendicular taxiway with a drainage culvert through it, which separated the main landing gear from the fuselage. The airplane proceeded forward and struck a second taxiway, badly damaging the nose of the fuselage. The pilot was fatally injured.

Factual Information

On June 28, 2005, at approximately 1025 mountain daylight time, a Jones Long EZ, amateur built experimental aircraft, N58LD, was substantially damaged during a landing attempt at Sunrise Skypark Airport, Marsing, Idaho. The private pilot was fatally injured and his passenger received minor injuries. The pilot/owner was conducting the flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local personal flight which had originated approximately 25 minutes before the accident. A flight plan had not been filed. The passenger said that the pilot was performing a landing on runway 30. He said that as they crossed the "numbers" the airplane's speed slowed, and the airplane stalled. The passenger said that "he felt the bottom drop out and he knew they were going to bounce." He said that the airplane landed hard, and bounced up and drifted to the left. When it came down the second time, the left main wheel was off the runway in soft dirt, further pulling the airplane left. He said the pilot applied power "in an attempt to go around." Subsequently the airplane struck a perpendicular taxiway with a drainage culvert through it, which separated the main landing gear from the fuselage. The airplane proceeded forward and struck a second taxiway, badly damaging the nose of the fuselage. The pilot built the airplane in 1988; he had accumulated approximately 258 hours of flight time in the aircraft. The Owyhee County Corner, from Murphy, Idaho, ordered an autopsy to be done on the pilot, which was completed on June 29, 2005, in Nampa, Idaho. The Forensic Pathologist that performed the autopsy determined that the cause of death was due to an aviation accident. The Federal Aviation Administration's Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, performed toxicology test on the pilot. According to CAMI's report (#200500146001), the blood and vitreous samples that were tested for carbon monoxide, cyanide, and volatiles (ethanol) found negative results. The blood and urine were tested for drugs and found Atenolol, the generic name for Tenormin. The Physicians Desk References states that "Tenormin, a type of medication known as a beta blocker, is used in the treatment of high blood pressure, angina pectoris, and heart attack."

Probable Cause and Findings

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during landing, and his subsequent delay in attempting a recovery from a bounced landing. A contributing factor was the taxiway berm.

 

Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database

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