Private Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Verdigre, Nebraska 68783
Saturday, May 20, 2006 10:00 CDT

The airplane impacted trees during an aborted landing attempt. The pilot reported that his private grass airstrip was 2,700 feet long and 75 feet wide. The pilot stated that the runway was wet due to a rain shower earlier that morning. The pilot reported that about one-half of the runway had been seeded recently and as a result he attempted to land on the remaining portion of runway. The pilot stated that upon landing the airplane began to slide on the wet runway when he applied brakes. The pilot reported that he initiated an aborted landing, but the airplane impacted two trees after becoming airborne. The trees were positioned about 50 feet past the departure threshold. The landing roll distance for a dry, level, paved runway, was 1,205 feet, according to the Cirrus SR22 Pilot Operating Handbook (POH). The POH indicated that the calculated landing distance should be increased by 40% for operations on grass runways, which resulted in a landing distance of 1,687 feet. The POH did not include an adjustment factor for operations on wet runways. According to a post-accident examination of the runway, the airplane touched down with about 1,265 feet of runway remaining. According to the POH, the flaps should be retracted to 50% during an aborted landing to maximize climb performance. The flaps were found fully extended at the accident site.

The pilot's decision to land on a wet grass runway that had insufficient length available for landing roll. An additional cause was the pilot's failure to properly retract the flaps during the aborted landing, resulting in diminished climb performance and the collision with the trees. Contributing factors to the accident were that the full length of the runway was not available for landing, the wet grass runway condition, and the trees which the airplane impacted during the aborted landing.