Whitehall Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Whitehall, Montana 59759
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 16:09 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot touched down beyond his point of intended landing and bounced. He added power, regained level flight, reduced power, and landed again. As he applied the brakes, he realized that the landing roll would exceed the amount of runway remaining available. He turned hard right to avoid a fence and a ditch. However, the left wing contacted the ground, and sustained substantial damage.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to attain the proper touchdown point and his failure to abort the landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/4/2009
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1609
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Whitehall
Event State MONTANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 59759
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 455143N
Event Location Longitude 1121011W
Event Location Airport Whitehall
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MT41
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 4510
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID BTM
Elevation of weather observation facility 4510
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 18
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 8
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.1
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) 25233
NTSB Notification Source FAA Northwest Regional Operati
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 19 2009 2:01PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N87349
NTSB Number WPR09CA110
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Ercoupe
Aircraft Model 415D
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 522
Certified Max Gross Weight 1400
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 16 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1250
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Michael Harrison
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Whitehall
Aircraft Owner State MT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 59759
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Michael Harrison
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Whitehall
Operator State MT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 59759
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 BTM
Departure City Butte
Departure State MT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code MT41
Destination City Whitehall
Destination State MT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 4 2009 2:22PM
User who most recently changed record grol
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29
Runway Length 3800
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --