Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sewanee - Franklin County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sewanee, Tennessee 37375
Sunday, November 14, 2004 12:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that the airplane touched down normally on the main wheels during landing, but when the nosewheel touched down, the airplane veered "violently" to the left. The pilot's attempt to gain control of the airplane with brake and rudder inputs was unsuccessful, and it veered off the runway and struck a parked airplane. A single, heavy black skid mark extended from the runway centerline, off the left side of the runway, and continued as a gouge through the grass and past the parked airplane that was struck. The accident airplane's nose landing gear lower drag strut assembly was damaged, and the rod end spring assembly was separated into pieces. The mechanic who disassembled and examined the nose landing gear assembly after the accident stated that the overcenter spring on the drag strut may have broken on landing, allowing the nosewheel to retract 8 to 12 inches and making the nosewheel steering inoperative. Metallurgical examination of the lower drag strut assembly and the two separated pieces of the rod end spring assembly revealed no evidence of corrosion or fatigue; the fracture surface features and deformation were consistent with overload.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper flare during landing, which resulted in the overload and collapse of the nose landing gear and subsequent on-ground loss of control of the airplane (aircraft control not possible) and collision with a parked airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/14/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Sewanee |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37375 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 351214N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0855355W |
| Event Location Airport | Sewanee - Franklin County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KUOS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1953 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1305 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KBGF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 979 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.57 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KBGF AWOS 141905Z 12009KT 10SM CLR 15/M01 A3057 |
| 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) | 20474 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 14 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1350 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2006 8:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Nashville FSDO-03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4088B |
| NTSB Number | ATL05LA023 |
| 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 | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 17-31ATC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 75-31120 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3325 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 1893.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Clinic Air Aviation, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2121 32nd Ave S |
| Aircraft Owner City | Nashville |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37212 |
| 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 | KJWN |
| Departure City | Nashville |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1120 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Sewanee |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 15 2006 8:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 6 |
| Runway Length | 3700 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |