Hillsdale Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hillsdale, Michigan 49242
Thursday, August 10, 2006 13:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The light sport airplane was damaged during a hard landing. The pilot had just completed an hour of dual instruction in the accident airplane. He stated that during the accident he was sole occupant of the airplane. He stated that during the landing he touched down hard and bounced into the air. He stated that when the airplane touched down the second time the nose landing gear bent and the airplane went off the left side of the runway. He stated that the bent nose landing gear became stuck in the grass and the airplane nosed over. According to the pilot, the wind was from 40 degrees right of the runway heading at 4 to 6 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's misjudged flare which resulted in the hard landing and his improper recovery from the bounced landing which resulted in the overload failure of the nose landing gear and subsequent nose over. The overload failure of the nose landing gear was a factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/10/2006
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1330
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Hillsdale
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 49242
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 415517N
Event Location Longitude 0843509W
Event Location Airport HILLSDALE MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID Y85
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 Docket Number (internal use) 20607
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 29 2006 12:45PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N109CT
NTSB Number CHI06CA226
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Flight Design
Aircraft Model CTSW
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 04-12-05
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Hillsdale Aero
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Hillsdale
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code Y85
Departure City HILLSDALE
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 13 2006 4:34PM
User who most recently changed record DINC
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 100
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --