Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Blackhawk Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cottage Grove, Wisconsin 53711
Tuesady, July 31, 2012 11:58 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After an uneventful local flight, the pilot decided to land on runway 4 since he had not landed on that runway in a long time. After a normal approach, the pilot landed the airplane just slightly left of the centerline but did not think that it was overly to the left. As the airplane coasted to taxi speed, the left wing contacted high vegetation and overgrown brush overhanging the left side of the runway. The airplane then veered to the left off the side of the runway and collided into brush and small trees, resulting in substantial damage to the leading edges of both wings. High vegetation, up to 12 feet tall, was found by the runway and was overhanging the west side of the runway by 2 to 4 feet. High vegetation was also overhanging the east side of the runway by 1 to 3 feet. The published runway 4 width is 57 feet, but the usable width for landing was narrowed by about 7 feet due to the overgrown vegetation. The pilot stated that he should have landed on runway 27, knowing that it was clear of vegetation on both sides. He said that he was not aware of just how much brush had overgrown the sides of runway 4 since the last time he landed there a few years ago. The pilot stated that if he had made a more perfect landing on the centerline and rolled out on centerline, the wingtip of the airplane would not have contacted the overgrown brush. Currently, the published information for the airfield includes information stating that brush and high vegetation surround the edges of runways 4/22.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to land on a runway with significant overgrown vegetation along the edges and his landing, which was left of the centerline.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1158 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cottage Grove |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53711 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 430617N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0891110W |
| Event Location Airport | Blackhawk Airfield |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 87Y |
| 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 | 914 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1150 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MSN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 886 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| 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) | 31642 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Jul 22 2013 11:42AM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N45080 |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA507 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 150M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15076726 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1450 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 12 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 6715 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BILLIG ARNOLD E + 3 |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5409 LOUDEN LN |
| Aircraft Owner City | MADISON |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53716-2174 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | James L Sainsbury |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1306 Neponset Trail |
| Operator City | Monona |
| Operator State | WI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 53716 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | -- |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1125 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 87Y |
| Destination City | Cottage Grove |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2013 5:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 04 |
| Runway Length | 2814 |
| Runway Width | 57 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |