Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sparta Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sparta, Michigan 49345
Tuesady, February 18, 2003 10:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane landed hard and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane subsequently impacted a snow bank. The pilot stated he received two preflight weather briefings and decided to make the flight under visual flight rules due to reports of icing conditions in the clouds. He indicated he experienced freezing rain during cruise. The stated that he requested and received an instrument flight rules clearance and climbed above the clouds. He stated that he used a VOR approach for landing and did not experience any icing while on approach. The pilot indicated he lowered the flaps and the aircraft began to descend rapidly, subsequently impacting the runway and collapsing the left main landing gear. A witness reported the aircraft had 1/2 to 3/4 inch of ice on the leading edge of the tail and wings. The weather observation facility 18 miles to the southeast, reported the weather about the time of the accident as: winds 200 degrees magnetic at 8 knots; visibility 2 statute miles with freezing drizzle; sky condition overcast 500 feet above ground level; temperature -3 degrees Celsius; dew point -4 degrees Celsius; pressure 29.98 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilots improper decision to fly into known adverse weather, and his failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall. A contributing factor was airframe icing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/18/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Sparta |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49345 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 430742N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0854038W |
| Event Location Airport | Sparta Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 8D4 |
| 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 | 761 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 956 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GRR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 793 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -1261 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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) | 13935 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 18 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1154 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9439S |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA072 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | V35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-8025 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 85.1 |
| Airframe Hours | 3330 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JLS Corp. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2500 Rochester Ct. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Troy |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48083 |
| 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 | PTK |
| Departure City | PONTIAC |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 8D4 |
| Destination City | Sparta |
| 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 | Aug 5 2003 11:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 2925 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |