Antrim County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bellaire, Michigan 49615
Wednesday, October 31, 2001 10:50 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The floatplane nosed over during landing on grass. The pilot reported he landed the airplane with a slight nose high attitude, using a small amount of power to skid the floats onto the grass at 50 mph. He reported that, "After a measured run out distance of 43' the floats settled thru the grass into the soft sand. At 54' run out distance, [the] floats dug into sand and caused airplane to flip over, upside down." The pilot reported he had been landing floatplanes on grass for 20 years.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the unsuitable terrain for landing selected by the pilot. A factor was the soft terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/31/2001
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1050
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Bellaire
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 49615
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Antrim County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ACB
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 623
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1041 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID ACB
Elevation of weather observation facility 623
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
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) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 100
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
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) 13555
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Nov 4 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1315
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 1 2003 9:44AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Dan Moore

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1243K
NTSB Number CHI02LA017
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 Luscombe
Aircraft Model LL-8-E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3970
Certified Max Gross Weight 1058
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 25 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 55
Airframe Hours 1968
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name John H. VanAndel
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 340
Aircraft Owner City Ellsworth
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 49729
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 --
Departure City Lake Ellsworth
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1040
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code ACB
Destination City Bellaire
Destination State MI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 25 2004 3:57PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\HAMG
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --