Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Panda Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kaunakakai, Hawaii 96770
Saturday, July 25, 2009 2:30 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he was returning to his home airport in dark night conditions. He performed a low approach, about 50 feet above the runway, to clear it of any wildlife that may have been present. After turning into the crosswind leg, he turned off the landing lights due to a high ambient glare that left him with a partial loss of night vision for a few seconds. He also stated that he neglected to set the elevator trim to maximum up, and that he had maintained a full cruise power setting. He reported that the altimeter was dark and not readable after he turned into the downwind leg of the approach. Shortly afterward the airplane unexpectedly contacted the ground, which resulted in structural damage to both wings and the fuselage. The airplane came to rest in an upright position in a nose-down attitude. The downwind portion of the traffic pattern is on a gradual slope that is about 200 feet higher than the runway. The pilot reported that he had made numerous night landings to his home airport. On the accident landing he did not cross-check the altimeter during the approach and had not properly configured the airplane for landing. He added that if he would have followed his normal regimen, and configured the airplane properly, the airplane would have been about 1,000 feet higher than it was when it impacted the terrain. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical problems with the airframe or engine at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from terrain while in the airport traffic pattern in dark night conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/25/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 230 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Kaunakakai |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96770 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 210852N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1571530W |
| Event Location Airport | Panda Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HI49 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 153 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 95 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HNL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 13 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| 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) | 26995 |
| NTSB Notification Source | John Weiser Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 1 2010 4:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N691T |
| NTSB Number | WPR09CA481 |
| 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 | S.C. Aerostar S.A. |
| Aircraft Model | YAK-52W |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 9912202 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2970 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 5 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 540 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John Hutton Corp |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Honolulu |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96819 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | John Hutton Corp |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Honolulu |
| Operator State | HI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 96819 |
| 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 | HNL |
| Departure City | Honolulu |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 205 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | HI49 |
| Destination City | Kaunakakai |
| Destination State | HI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 1 2010 3:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |