Kern Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kernville, California 93238
Sunday, September 24, 2000 8:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane bounced and veered off the left side of the runway. The pilot was on final and maintaining 85 knots as he initiated his flare. During the flare, he encountered wind shear and the airplane dropped from about 5 feet. The left main landing gear struck some large rocks and separated from the airplane. The pilot said a big upslope was near the runway. He estimated the winds to be from 010 degrees at 10 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot failed to maintain an adequate airspeed margin, resulting in a stall/mush and hard landing, and failed to maintain directional control and the left main landing gear separated when it struck a rock.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/24/2000
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 830
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City KERNVILLE
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93238
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport KERN VALLEY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID L05
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 2614
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 856 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 74
Weather Observation Facility ID BFL
Elevation of weather observation facility 507
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 36
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 66
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 52
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10923
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 24 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 920
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 6 2001 9:00AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N360HW
NTSB Number LAX00LA349
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 WOODRUFF LANCAIR
Aircraft Model 360
Aircraft Series Identifier 360
Aircraft Serial Number 789320631FB
Certified Max Gross Weight 1900
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 Oct 1 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 106
Airframe Hours 206
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HAROLD WOODRUFF
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City CHINO HILLS
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91709
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 CNO
Departure City CHINO
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 745
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code L05
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 19 2001 4:45AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 35
Runway Length 3500
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --