Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mount Vernon Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mt. Vernon, Illinois 62864
Sunday, June 20, 2004 18:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantially damaged during a hard landing. The left main landing gear subsequently collapsed and the airplane departed the left side of the runway, contacting two runway lights in the process. A witness reported that the accident aircraft turned a "close-in" left base at a "high power setting." He recalled thinking that the pilot was going to execute a "low level, high speed pass." The aircraft did not appear to him to be in a normal landing descent profile. According to this witness, the aircraft crossed the runway threshold approximately 35 feet above ground level (agl) and the power was reduced to idle. The aircraft leveled about 30 feet agl and subsequently settled to 5-10 feet agl. As it approached the intersecting runway, the aircraft "dropped" and landed on all three landing gear. He noted that a "large cloud" of smoke rose from all three wheels. After a ground roll of about 100 feet, the aircraft slowly began to settle onto its left wing and he could hear the propeller begin to hit the ground. Weather conditions recorded by the MVN Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) at 1755 were clear skies and winds from 020 degrees at 5 knots. At 1855, the AWOS recorded clear skies and calm winds. According to the accident report filed by the pilot, his most recent flight review was completed in July 1986. His most recent medical certificate was issued on May 11, 1999. The pilot did not include a narrative in his accident report.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misjudgment of the landing flare. Contributing factors were the pilot's failure to execute a stabilized approach for landing. An additional factor was the presence of the runway lights.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/20/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mt. Vernon |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 62864 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 381924N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0885131W |
| Event Location Airport | Mount Vernon |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MVN |
| 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 | 480 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MVN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 480 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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) | 16231 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 23 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1458 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Springfield FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3234Q |
| NTSB Number | CHI04CA164 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 401 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 401-0034 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6300 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 3914 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jim Russell Sales Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P. O. Box 760 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Benton |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 62812 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | James Russell |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MVN |
| Departure City | Mt. Vernon |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | MVN |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 16 2004 4:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 5 |
| Runway Length | 6498 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |