Florence Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Florence, Oregon 97439
Friday, April 11, 2003 17:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The commercial pilot reported that shortly after touchdown, in conjunction with the tail wheel touching down, the airplane started drifting to the right. The pilot stated that the airplane continued to track to the right, ultimately exiting the runway edge. After exiting the runway, the airplane encountered rough terrain and the right main gear collapsed. In a subsequent written statement, the pilot reported that the tail wheel was possibly not centered when the airplane touched down, and that he was unable to recover before the airplane exited the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll. Factors include rough terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/11/2003
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Florence
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97439
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 435842N
Event Location Longitude 1240630W
Event Location Airport FLORENCE MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 6S2
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 46
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15243
NTSB Notification Source Pilot
NTSB Notification Date Apr 15 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 30 2004 8:14AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Hillsboro, Oregon

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6298
NTSB Number SEA03LA062
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 Curtiss-Wright
Aircraft Model Travel Air C-4000
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 745
Certified Max Gross Weight 2695
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 Oct 15 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name William R. Kirk
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Florence
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97439
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 S21
Departure City SUNRIVER
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 6S2
Destination City Florence
Destination State OR
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jan 22 2004 4:03PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 33
Runway Length 3000
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --