Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Welke Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Beaver Island, Michigan 49782
Sunday, August 5, 2001 13:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane traveled off the departure end of the runway and into a sand/gravel pit on landing. The landing was being made on runway 35 (3,500 feet by 140 feet, dry grass). A typed statement provided by the pilot with his NTSB form 6120.1/2 stated that because of trees at the end of the runway, the pilot made a higher than normal approach and sustained engine power until the trees were cleared. He reported the airplane touched down 500 feet beyond approach end of the runway. The pilot reported that during the landing roll he applied additional braking when he realized that the runway had a down slope. He reported, "While I am sure there was a moment that I could have aborted the landing, it passed due to my confidence that directional control and braking was sufficient to achieve this landing." The airplane continued off the departure end of the runway into a sand/gravel pit, which is 8 to 10 feet below the runway elevation. The right wing contacted a sand pile and the airplane rotated 20 degrees to the right prior to coming to rest. There are 60-foot tall trees located 10 feet from the approach end of runway 35. Runway 35 has a 1,350 foot displaced threshold.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot misjudged the approach and landing, and his failure to abort the landing. Factors associated with the accident were the trees at the approach end of the runway and the sand/gravel pit that the airplane traveled into.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/5/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Beaver Island |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49782 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Welke |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 6Y8 |
| 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 | 664 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1415 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CVX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 670 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2731 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11739 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 5 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1442 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2002 12:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Grand Rapids, MI FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4545T |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA266 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Grumman |
| Aircraft Model | AA-5B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA5B1268 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Nov 20 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | 2813 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William P. Sheridan |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 55 W. Chestnut St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chicago |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49782 |
| 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 | D87 |
| Departure City | Harbor Springs |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 6Y8 |
| Destination City | Beaver Island |
| 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 | May 13 2002 9:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35 |
| Runway Length | 3500 |
| Runway Width | 140 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |