White Pigeon Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

North English, Iowa 52335
Thursday, July 21, 2011 17:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that he was attempting a landing into the sun with agricultural chemical on the windshield. He said that a sudden air burst pushed the airplane down, which resulted in a hard landing. The airplane then bounced and impacted the runway causing substantial damage to the fuselage. Weather reports for the area did not indicate the presence of weather that would have resulted in an air burst.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper flare which resulted in a hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/21/2011
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City North English
Event State IOWA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 52335
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 412936N
Event Location Longitude 0920853W
Event Location Airport White Pigeon Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 7IA1
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 875
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1715 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 135
Weather Observation Facility ID AWG
Elevation of weather observation facility 754
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 26
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) 36
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
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) 29.82
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) 28886
NTSB Notification Source FAA-ACE-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 19 2011 11:22AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5439
NTSB Number CEN11CA497
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Grumman Schweizer
Aircraft Model G-164A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1158
Certified Max Gross Weight 4500
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jul 16 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 8554.2
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Kirk Aviation Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Louisville
Aircraft Owner State MS
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Kirk Aviation Inc
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Louisville
Operator State MS
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code LUXG
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Agriculture
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) Aerial Application
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 7IA1
Departure City North English
Departure State IA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1620
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City North English
Destination State IA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 31 2011 4:01PM
User who most recently changed record galm
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 2400
Runway Width 70
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --