Early Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801
Sunday, June 15, 1997 14:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A short final approach was made to runway 5, a 1,200 foot long grass runway. The airplane touched down long, and the pilot executed a go-around by reducing the flaps to 14 degrees and applying full power to the engine. As the airplane climbed, the pilot realized that he would not clear 25-foot high wires that crossed over the departure end of the runway, and executed a sharp stick-back maneuver to gain maximum altitude. The right main landing gear struck the wires, which remained caught with the airplane. The airplane slowed, and descended to the ground nose first, coming to rest inverted.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to obtain the proper touchdown point. A contributing factor was the transmission line.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/15/1997
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City HARRISONBURG
Event State VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 22801
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport EARLY FIELD
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NONE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport 50
Airport Elevation 1200
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 2517
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1875
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 16 1997 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 12:21PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2537Z
NTSB Number NYC97LA117
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bellanca
Aircraft Model 7GCBC
Aircraft Series Identifier 7GCBC
Aircraft Serial Number 1022-78
Certified Max Gross Weight 1650
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 25 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 38
Airframe Hours 2635
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LEON JOHENNING
Aircraft Owner Street Address 15 JORDAN STREET
Aircraft Owner City LEXINGTON
Aircraft Owner State VA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 24450
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 No
Departure Airport Code SHD
Departure City STAUNTON
Departure State VA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1410
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code NONE
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 5
Runway Length 1200
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --