Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Merritt Island Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Merritt Island, Florida 32952
Monday, February 8, 2010 11:50 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot of the experimental, amateur-built, turboprop airplane, the airplane was configured for landing while on the downwind and base legs for runway 29. During the final approach segment, the airplane was aligned with the runway centerline and airspeed and power were stabilized. At the approach end of the runway, the airplane suddenly dropped, resulting in a hard bounce. Corrections were made and on the second bounce, power was added for a go-around procedure. The engine did not respond to the thrust lever input. The continued bouncing resulted in a loss of directional control and the airplane exited the runway to the left. According to the owner/pilot-rated-passenger, the pilot turned downwind and at base leg, was exceeding the recommended approach speed by 20 knots. Upon turn to final they were approaching the runway “hot.” Airspeed was 80 plus knots and the stall speed for the airplane was 68 to 70 knots. The airplane bounced hard and a go-around was attempted, but was unsuccessful because the turbine spooling was too slow. The airplane exited the runway to the center median with another hard bounce, then with the ensuing crash. The pilot reported that she had accumulated a total time of 15,000 hours; of which, 3.5 hours were in the accident airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/8/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1150 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Merritt Island |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32952 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 282029N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0804107W |
| Event Location Airport | Merritt Island Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | COI |
| 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 | 6 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1155 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 108 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | COF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 8 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| 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) | 30.09 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26800 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Orlando FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 27 2010 4:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N286JL |
| NTSB Number | ERA10CA145 |
| 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 | CLOPTON AERO LLC |
| Aircraft Model | AEROCOMP COMPAIR 7SL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 057222 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5280 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 31 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 100 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ABRAHAM ERICH F |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 124 MCCOMB AVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | PORT GIBSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | MS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 39150-2916 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Erich Abraham |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Port Gibson |
| Operator State | MS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 39150 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TLH |
| Departure City | Tallalhassee |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | COI |
| Destination City | Merritt Island |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 8 2010 12:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 3601 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |