Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Heaven's Landing Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Clayton, Georgia 30525
Thursday, October 2, 2003 15:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot during the approach to land the airplane touched down about 500 feet down runway 23 on the centerline. As the tail lost lift and the tail wheel made contact with the runway, the airplane veered left of the centerline. At 1900 feet, the airplane crossed from the south side of the runway over the centerline to the north side of the runway. The airplane veered again to the left and departed the runway on the south side about 2,000 feet from the approach end. The airplane came to rest perpendicular to the runway 2,144 feet from the approach end. Examination of the accident on-scene found that the airplane departed the runway edge and proceeded down a fifteen-foot embankment and made contact with several large rocks, separating both main landing gear. The airplane continued to rotate counter clockwise about 45-degrees and came to rest near trees. Winds at the time of the accident were 100-degrees gusting to 15 knots. Examination of the auto-locking feature for the tail-wheel found that the mechanism operated properly. Tail wheel skid marks on the runway were clearly visible throughout the length of the loss-of-control sequence. Tail wheel scuff marks were in line with the main landing gear and exhibited side-load scuffing consistent with the tail wheel being in the forward, locked position. The scuffing was not consistent with a cocked tail wheel. In addition, no evidence was identified indicating tail wheel tire sidewall or tread damage consistent with a cocked tail wheel. No mechanical problem with the airplane was reported by the pilot.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions that resulted in his failure to maintain directional control during landing roll. A factor was gusting tailwinds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 10/2/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Clayton |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30525 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344958N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0832434W |
| Event Location Airport | Heaven's Landing Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVT |
| 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 | 1650 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1853 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 354 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 50 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4600 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1358 |
| 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) | 17527 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 2 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1635 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 11 2007 4:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | LEMA |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2831D |
| NTSB Number | ATL04IA002 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | North American |
| Aircraft Model | T6G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 53-4577 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5300 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Bowlin & Associates Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 95 Cedar Ridge Airport |
| Aircraft Owner City | Griffin |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30223 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Charles E. Yeager |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | PO Box 1507 |
| Operator City | Penn Valley |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95946 |
| 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 | GA62 |
| Departure City | Griffin |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | Clayton |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 11 2007 4:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | LEMA |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |