Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hermiston, Oregon 97875
Saturday, December 4, 2004 15:00 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that after flying around the local area for about one hour, he decided to land in an open field. The pilot reported that he set-up a normal approach to land over a 30 to 40 foot obstacle. After clearing the obstacle, he lowered the nose of the aircraft, then flared for the landing. The flare did not adequately arrest the descent rate and the aircraft touched down hard subsequently collapsing both main landing gear. The aircraft slid on its belly for about 100 to 150 feet before coming to rest.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

An improper flare and descent rate during landing resulting in a hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/4/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Hermiston
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97875
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude 453400N
Event Location Longitude 1192455W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1453 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID HRI
Elevation of weather observation facility 644
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
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) 5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 5
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 40
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.64
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17645
NTSB Notification Source FAA REgional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Dec 5 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1100
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 28 2005 2:59PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Portland, Oregon

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N420CD
NTSB Number SEA05LA024
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 Maule
Aircraft Model MX-7-235
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 10064C
Certified Max Gross Weight 2500
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 20 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 170
Airframe Hours 2150
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Edward A. Pedro
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Hermiston
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97838
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 HRI
Departure City Hermiston
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code HRI
Destination City Hermiston
Destination State OR
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record --
User who most recently changed record --
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --