Twichell Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Gowanda, New York 14070
Thursday, July 18, 1996 12:40 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was conducting a visual approach and landing to his private airstrip. He stated, 'On landing approach, I let the airspeed get too low, the aircraft hit the runway hard enough to damage the gear and fuselage.' He also reported that there were no malfunctions with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the pilot to properly flare the airplane during the landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/18/1996
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1240
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City GOWANDA
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 14070
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport TWICHELL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NONE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 700
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1256 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 30
Weather Observation Facility ID BUF
Elevation of weather observation facility 724
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 30
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1051
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 22 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:13AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N695WM
NTSB Number NYC96LA153
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Kolb Company
Aircraft Model MARK III
Aircraft Series Identifier MARK III
Aircraft Serial Number 496
Certified Max Gross Weight 850
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 6
Airframe Hours 6
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HERBERT L. TWICHELL
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2490 ZOAR RD
Aircraft Owner City GOWANDA
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 14070
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code NONE
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1130
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 10 2002 4:15PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 1000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --