St. Clair County Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Port Huron, Michigan 48060
Monday, January 1, 2001 12:45 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane contacted a snow bank on the side of the runway during landing. The landing was being made on runway 04 (5,103 feet by 100 feet). The pilot reported the winds were from the northwest at 10 knots and that a "minimal" crosswind correction was required on final approach. He continued to report that just prior to touchdown while 2 feet above the runway "…a significant gust ballooned the aircraft 5-6 ft. above the runway where the aircraft stalled and began to settle abruptly with a nose high attitude." The pilot added power in an attempt to recover, however, the airplane traveled to the right side of the runway where it contacted a snow bank and spun around prior to coming to rest. The local weather observation, taken 5 minutes prior to the accident, reported winds from 270 degrees at 11 knots, gusting to 18 knots. T

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot failed to maintain directional control of the airplane and the runway selected resulted in a tailwind condition. Factors associated with the accident were the gusty crosswind and the snow bank.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/1/2001
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1245
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Port Huron
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 48060
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport St. Clair County Int'l
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PHN
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 650
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1240 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID PHN
Elevation of weather observation facility 650
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -6
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 18
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.32
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10841
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jan 4 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1400
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 1 2001 7:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Detroit , MI FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2184N
NTSB Number CHI01LA061
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Mooney
Aircraft Model M20S
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 30-0039
Certified Max Gross Weight 3200
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 6 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 100
Airframe Hours 160
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Steven Plomaritis
Aircraft Owner Street Address 860 Lake Shore Road
Aircraft Owner City Grosse Pointe
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 48236
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 DET
Departure City DETROIT
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PHN
Destination City Port Huron
Destination State MI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 17 2001 4:45AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 04
Runway Length 5103
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --