Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Foothills Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Morganton, North Carolina 28656
Saturday, March 24, 2007 14:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with trees short of the runway. According to the pilot, following a few touch and gos, he left the pattern for about 40 minutes and returned to the airport. Upon arrival at the airport he entered a right downwind pattern about 2000 feet msl for runway 21. He stated that the downwind was normal and once he was abeam the numbers he turned base and "believed the final leg was a bit longer then usual". He stated that as he got close to the runway he was low and increased the throttle to full power, "I seemed to drop precipitously and the tips of the trees seemed level with my wheels. At that time the right wing seemed to hit something and somehow I was on the ground". He stated that the last airspeed he was aware of was 85-90 miles per hour. He said that he shut the engine off, and got out of the airplane, walked about 20 feet and sat down. According to a witness, he observed the airplane in what appeared to be a normal approach to landing on runway 21, at an altitude of 200 feet. The witness stated that he was located in front of a large corporate hangar and the airplane was approximately 1/2 mile away. He said he observed the right wing drop sharply with a noticeable decrease in altitude followed by recovery, then a second drop of the right wing more severe this time and the airplane dropped completely below the tree line. The witness stated that he heard the application of full engine power followed by a single loud impact then almost immediately the sound of several impacts mixed with the "unmistakable sound of multiple propeller strikes" then silence. The witness stated that he located the wreckage at a distance of approximately 200 yards off the approach end of the runway. The witness stated that it took several minutes to reach the airplane and at that point he found the pilot outside the airplane, standing by the left wing, appearing confused. The witness stated that the pilot told him that "I'm okay, I just got too slow and stalled it." There were no mechanical problems reported by the pilot or discovered during the post-accident examination of the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed that resulted in an inadvertent stall, and subsequent inflight collision with trees and the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/24/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Morganton |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28656 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 354908N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0813625W |
| Event Location Airport | Foothills Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MRN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1270 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1521 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MRN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1270 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21562 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 23 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2007 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Charlotte FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N17XZ |
| NTSB Number | ATL07CA061 |
| 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 | Harrison Robert J. |
| Aircraft Model | Longez |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1566 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1775 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17.4 |
| Airframe Hours | 17.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert J. Harrison |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 117 Shadow Ln |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mooresville |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28117 |
| 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 | MRN |
| Departure City | Morganton |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MRN |
| Destination City | Morganton |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 23 2007 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 5500 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |