La Crosse Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601
Monday, July 23, 2001 9:23 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot attempted to land on runway 31 with high and gusting winds. According to the pilot during final approach he attempted a go-around and, "... the turbulence became extreme and I reduced power to reduce airspeed and stress on the airframe. Unfortunately, I reduced airspeed to just above stall speed and in the next gust the plane stalled." The pilot reported that the airplane landed hard and flipped over onto its back. The reported winds at the time of the accident were 290-degrees magnetic at 26 knots with gusts to 33 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions and turbulence which resulted in the encountered stall. Factors to the accident were turbulence and the high wind condition.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/23/2001
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 923
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City La Crosse
Event State WISCONSIN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 54601
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport La Crosse Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LSE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 31
Airport Elevation 654
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 923 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 310
Weather Observation Facility ID LSE
Elevation of weather observation facility 654
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3400
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2400
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 26
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 33
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.86
Density Altitude (feet) 2303
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report KLSE 231353Z 21007KT 10SM FEW110 26/24 A2980 RMK A
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) 12574
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 23 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 16 2003 4:27PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA, Milwaukee FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N216ST
NTSB Number CHI01LA227
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 McIlraith
Aircraft Model Searey Amphibian
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1MK216
Certified Max Gross Weight 1628
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 21 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 86
Airframe Hours 110
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Stuart M. McIlraith & Terry E. McIlraith
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2130 Grandview Place
Aircraft Owner City La Crosse
Aircraft Owner State WI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 54601
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) Flight Test
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code LSE
Departure City La Crosse
Departure State WI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 850
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City La Crosee
Destination State WI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Go-around (VFR)
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 5 2002 8:35AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 5300
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --