Whiteside Cty Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rock Falls, Illinois 61071
Thursday, October 12, 1989 13:40 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

STUDENT PILOT WAS ON HIS FIRST CROSS COUNTRY SOLO, AND SET UP APPROACH IN TRAFFIC PATTERN AT DESTINATION AIRPORT UTILIZING VASI ON FINAL APPROACH. STUDENT STATED AIRCRAFT HIT THE RUNWAY HARD AND BOUNCED. ON SECOND GROUND CONTACT, PROP HIT RUNWAY. ON THIRD GROUND CONTACT, NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED AND AIRCRAFT SLID TO A STOP. COCKPIT STARTED FILLING WITH SMOKE, STUDENT EXITED AIRCRAFT UNINJURED. STUDENT NOTICED FIRE UNDER AIRCRAFT BEING FED BY STREAM OF FUEL FROM RIGHT WING TANK SUMP DRAIN. AIRCRAFT WAS CONSUMED BY FIRE BEFORE IT COULD BE EXTINGUISHED.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

IMPROPER FLARE BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN A HARD LANDING.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/12/1989
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1340
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City ROCK FALLS
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 61071
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport WHITESIDE CTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SQI
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 647
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1252 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 40
Weather Observation Facility ID RFD
Elevation of weather observation facility 736
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 35
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 30000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
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) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2041
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 12 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 41274
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 1:07PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9157S
NTSB Number CHI90LA008
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BEECH
Aircraft Model C23
Aircraft Series Identifier C23
Aircraft Serial Number 1773
Certified Max Gross Weight 2450
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 1 1989 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 70
Airframe Hours 2968
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DONALD E. COSTELLO
Aircraft Owner Street Address 94 LEISURE LANE
Aircraft Owner City OSWEGO
Aircraft Owner State IL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 60543
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code ARR
Departure City SUGAR GROVE
Departure State IL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SQI
Destination City ROCK FALLS
Destination State IL
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 7
Runway Length 6500
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --