Flying Diamond Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Sahuarita, Arizona 85629
Thursday, December 20, 2007 17:15 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot observed a car approaching the runway when he was on short final approach for landing at the uncontrolled airport. It appeared to the pilot that the car would cross the runway at midfield just about the time he would be on the landing rollout crossing the same area. The pilot abruptly applied full throttle; however, the engine's power did not increase. The pilot failed to maintain adequate airspeed to touchdown normally, which resulted in a hard landing. Thereafter, the airplane veered off the runway and came to rest with a bent airframe.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed. A contributing factor was the pilot's distraction due to the presence of an automobile, which appeared to encroach upon the runway environment.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/20/2007
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1715
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Sahuarita
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85629
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 315619N
Event Location Longitude 1110649W
Event Location Airport Flying Diamond
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 6AZ8
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 3800
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 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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
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) 23071
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Dec 21 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 18 2010 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Scottsdale, AZ

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7229R
NTSB Number LAX08CA040
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 Eldredge
Aircraft Model Aircamper SDE
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 001
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
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 Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Stephen D. Eldredge
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Andrew Eldredge
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Sahuarita
Operator State AZ
Operator Country USA
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 6AZ8
Departure City Sahuarita
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 6AZ8
Destination City --
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 18 2010 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 2650
Runway Width 35
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --