Madera Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Madera, California 93638
Sunday, March 1, 1998 16:41 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that he was on approach to runway 30. As he initiated the flare, he felt the airplane bleed off airspeed quicker than anticipated and realized that 'the aircraft was quickly starting to stall.' The pilot stated that he knew that he was too high and applied power to arrest the stall but the left wing dropped and seemed to start flying again when power was applied. The pilot then attempted to abort the landing and execute a go-around but the aircraft veered to the left off the runway. The left wingtip contacted the ground, followed by the engine and right wing. The right wing broke off at the wing splice point and the aircraft nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot reported that at the time of the accident he had logged only 1 hour in this type of aircraft.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed during the approach, which resulted in a stall. An additional cause was the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the attempted go around. A factor in this accident is the pilot's lack of total experience in aircraft type.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/1/1998
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1641
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City MADERA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93638
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport MADERA MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MAE
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 253
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
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 4500
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) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 224
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Mar 1 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1715
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 16 2001 11:56AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N546SH
NTSB Number LAX98LA099
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Sweet-House
Aircraft Model RD MUSTANG 2
Aircraft Series Identifier RD MUSTANG
Aircraft Serial Number M-11-546
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 27 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 1
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name RONALD GENE HOUSE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 17287 BENECIA ROAD
Aircraft Owner City MADERA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93638
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 MAE
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1600
Departure Time Zone PST
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 --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 20 2001 6:29PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 30
Runway Length 4544
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --