Pearland Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Houston, Texas 77581
Saturday, March 27, 2010 18:20 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that after about a 5.5-hour flight with one refueling stop, he was making a “crab type” approach to runway 32 due to the considerable crosswinds at his destination airport. He added that he still experienced some side drift to the right and that attempts to correct back to centerline resulted in a small bounce and “considerable wing rock.” He also added that he lost control at the edge of the runway and elected not to try a go-around and make the situation worse. The airplane exited the right side of the runway, impacted a ditch and collapsed the landing gear before sliding to a stop in the upright position. At about the time of the accident the automated weather station at the airport reported winds from 180 degrees at 10 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control while landing with a quartering tailwind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/27/2010
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1820
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Houston
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77581
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 293116N
Event Location Longitude 0951431W
Event Location Airport Pearland Regional Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LVJ
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1853 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KLVJ
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.84
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) 26809
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 8 2010 10:28AM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N164JV
NTSB Number CEN10CA175
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 None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name VAN DUSEN JOHN M
Aircraft Model LONGEZE
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 164
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Mar 14 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 140
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type C91-A
Aircraft Owner Name BATES DONALD R
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Stateline
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89449
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name BATES DONALD R
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Placerville
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 95667
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 OZA
Departure City Ozona
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1615
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code LVJ
Destination City Houston
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 5 2010 11:26AM
User who most recently changed record hatc
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 32
Runway Length 4302
Runway Width 70
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --