Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mountain Air Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Burnsville, North Carolina 28714
Friday, July 2, 2010 13:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he was low on the final approach to runway 32 at the mountaintop airport, but thought he could "make the numbers." The airplane encountered a downdraft, and the pilot wasn't able to compensate for it. The airplane impacted terrain about 3 feet short of the runway, bounced, then veered off the right side of the runway and struck an embankment, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot also stated that there was a 7-knot tailwind "from the right," and that the density altitude was about 6,300 feet at the time of the accident. The flight was the pilot’s seventh arrival into the airport, and his first time landing there with a tailwind. There were no preaccident mechanical anomalies noted with the airplane, which "was performing great." According to the airport's pilot manual, runway 32 was the preferred landing runway due to its upslope and fewer obstructions at the arrival end. There was no displaced threshold, and the terrain rose sharply to the approach end of the runway. A visual glideslope indicator was located to the left of the runway. The pilot's manual also advised, "consider flying a steeper approach to compensate for the 'burble' downdraft typically present at the end of the runway," and noted that the hills on either side and the runway's upslope "will combine to produce the optical illusion of being too steep an approach path." The manual further stated, "consider carefully the effects of density altitude on the performance of your aircraft," as well as, "many pilots will not consider landing with SSE winds, and will simply divert" to another airport.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain a proper visual glideslope during final approach.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1310 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Burnsville |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28714 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355207N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0822030w |
| Event Location Airport | Mountain Air Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2NC0 |
| 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 | 4390 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 205 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAVL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2165 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.31 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27410 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 25 2010 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N220WJ |
| NTSB Number | ERA10CA343 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CIRRUS DESIGN CORP |
| Aircraft Model | SR22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0823 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 794 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | XT APPLICATIONS LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 SILVERSIDE RD STE 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810-4902 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | XT APPLICATIONS LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 3511 SILVERSIDE RD STE 105 |
| Operator City | WILMINGTON |
| Operator State | DE |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 19810-4902 |
| 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 | KHEF |
| Departure City | Manassas |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1123 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 2NC0 |
| Destination City | BURNSVILLE |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 23 2010 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | laxl-i |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 2900 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |