Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Clover Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pearland, Texas 77581
Sunday, May 31, 1998 17:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 400 hour private pilot mistook the freshly mowed area to the east of the runway 14L for the approved landing area known as 'sod runway 14L.' During the touchdown, the airplane impacted a shallow depression running perpendicular to his path and the airplane bounced up in the air. On the second touchdown, the airplane impacted a drainage ditch which collapsed the nose landing gear. According to the FAA inspector that traveled to the accident site, the confines of the 2,800 foot sod runway were difficult to define due to the lack of usage. He added that the grass was all the same tone of green as most of the surrounding area. Additionally, the worn out areas normally found in the vicinity of the touchdown zone, as well as along the runway centerline, were missing. Those visual cues normally help the pilots define the confines of the runway. The pilot's familiarity with sod runway 14L and the airport could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's selection of the wrong runway/landing area. A factor was the lack of visual runway cues available to the pilot.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/31/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | PEARLAND |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77581 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CLOVER FIELD AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | T02 |
| 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 | 43 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| 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) | 740 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 2 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1830 |
| 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 | N19271 |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA255 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150L |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 150-74292 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DALAKE LTD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 SILVERSIDE ROAD, STE 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | DAVID L. KELSEY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 17418 AIRFIELD LANE |
| Operator City | PEARLAND |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 77581 |
| 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 | T02 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | 14L |
| Runway Length | 2800 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |