Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fallon Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fallon, Nevada 89406
Tuesady, May 2, 2000 14:35 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that his landing approach was normal. There was a 50-degree right crosswind at 15 knots. After touching down near the threshold on the main landing gear, the aircraft lifted off the runway to a height of 20-25 feet agl and drifted laterally off the runway. The pilot initiated a go-around and attempted to correct the flight path back over the runway; however, the aircraft touched down a second time in soft sand off the runway shoulder and the main gear collapsed. The aircraft then skidded to a stop on the runway on its belly. The pilot speculated that an earlier, improper repair of the fiberglass main landing gear leg left the leg in a weakened condition and contributed to the gear collapse. Shortly after purchasing the airplane, the pilot discovered that one main landing gear leg was deformed outward. The deformed gear leg had been reheated and realigned by a person who represented to the pilot that he was an expert in fiberglass repairs. Another mechanic told the pilot after the accident that he was of the opinion that this reheating weakened the fiberglass to the extent that it failed prematurely during the off-runway touchdown.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain runway alignment and directional control during a crosswind landing that resulted in a touchdown off the runway surface in soft sand. A factor in the accident was an earlier improper repair, which weakened the landing gear strut.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/2/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1435 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | FALLON |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89406 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | FALLON MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FLX |
| 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 | 3963 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NFL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3934 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 75 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 27 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6050 |
| 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) | 11180 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 3 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 14 2001 9:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7FS |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA182 |
| 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 | SMITH ARTHUR FOX |
| Aircraft Model | LONG EZ |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | LONG EZ |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 0 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | MOUNTAIN WEST EQUITIES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 11192 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TRUCKEE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96162 |
| 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 | TRK |
| Departure City | TRUCKEE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | FLX |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 1 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 5703 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |