Fayette County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Somerville, Tennessee 38068
Saturday, July 6, 2002 13:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that on final approach to land he lowered the nose of the airplane to lose the excess altitude, but the airspeed increased, so in an attempt to reach the target airspeed he pulled back on the controls as the airplane neared the landing runway and stalled the airplane about 20 feet above the runway. He said that the airplane descended impacting the ground, and came to rest about 20 feet off the runway, incurring damage. Prior to the accident there had been no mechanical failure or malfunction with the airplane or its systems.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper landing flare resulting in a hard landing and damage to the airplane.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/6/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Somerville
Event State TENNESSEE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 38068
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 351221N
Event Location Longitude 0892339W
Event Location Airport Fayette County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID FYE
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 436
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1253 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID MEM
Elevation of weather observation facility 341
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 30
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 35
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
Density Altitude (feet) 2400
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12480
NTSB Notification Source FAA ATL Comm. Center
NTSB Notification Date Jul 6 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1558
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2002 3:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Memphis, TN

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4418F
NTSB Number MIA02LA129
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 Taylorcraft
Aircraft Model F21B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number F1514
Certified Max Gross Weight 1750
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 Jun 27 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 6
Airframe Hours 300
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Gerald A. Graves
Aircraft Owner Street Address 7660 Woodway Drive
Aircraft Owner City Houston
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77063
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 2D1
Departure City Alliance
Departure State OH
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 900
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code FYE
Destination City Somerville
Destination State TN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Oct 22 2002 10:50AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36
Runway Length 3500
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --