Gillespie Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

San Diego, California 92020
Saturday, September 10, 2011 13:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that, during his landing approach, while about 3 feet above the ground, the airplane lost all lift and touched down hard. He said that the airplane bounced, and while airborne, he applied power to prevent a second hard landing, but the airplane rotated to the left. The airplane bounced a second time, and an air traffic controller told the pilot to go-around. The pilot applied full power, but he lost control, the airplane yawed further to the left, and the left wing struck the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage when the nose and right main landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid to a stop.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing and failure to maintain control during an attempted go-around.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/10/2011
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1315
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City San Diego
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92020
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 324934N
Event Location Longitude 1165820W
Event Location Airport Gillespie Field Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SEE
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 388
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1253 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 85
Weather Observation Facility ID MYF
Elevation of weather observation facility 427
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 9
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.88
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) 29274
NTSB Notification Source FAA AWP Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2011 2:58PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N334RA
NTSB Number WPR11CA445
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 AERO SP Z O O
Aircraft Model AT-4 LSA
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number AT4-016
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 3 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 50
Airframe Hours 1376
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name John Graf
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Alpine
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91901-2505
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name John Graf
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Alpine
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 91901-2505
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code SEE
Departure City San Diego
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1250
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code SEE
Destination City San Diego
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 21 2011 3:00PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27L
Runway Length 2738
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --