Rockwell City Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rockwell City, Iowa 50579
Wednesday, May 21, 2014 11:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that while landing she applied aft pressure on the control stick to flair the airplane and lost sight of the runway seeing only the nose of the airplane. She reduced pressure on the control stick and the passenger said "stick forward". The pilot stated that she didn't know how far forward she moved the control stick. The airplane subsequently impacted the runway and nosed down before settling back onto the landing gear. The airplane sustained damage to the propeller, cowl, landing gear and firewall.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

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

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/21/2014
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1100
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Rockwell City
Event State IOWA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 50579
Event Date Year 2014
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 422316N
Event Location Longitude 0943707W
Event Location Airport ROCKWELL CITY MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 2Y4
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 124
Airport Elevation 1217
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1315 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 45
Weather Observation Facility ID FOD
Elevation of weather observation facility 1156
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 22
Time Zone of the weather observation UTC
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) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 10
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 18
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KFOD 211315Z AUTO 01013G18KT 10SM CLR 16/08
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) 33466
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 6 2014 2:57PM
User who most recently changed record brajo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N50036
NTSB Number CEN14CA264
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name LAURITSEN RALPH M
Aircraft Model RV 4
Aircraft Series Identifier NO SERIES
Aircraft Serial Number 693
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 1
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Jul 15 2013 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 244
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LAURITSEN DOROTHY J
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City BOONE
Aircraft Owner State IA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 500364429
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name LAURITSEN DOROTHY J
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City BOONE
Operator State IA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 500364429
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
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 BNW
Departure City Boone
Departure State IA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1041
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 2Y4
Destination City Rockwell City
Destination State IA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 6 2014 2:57PM
User who most recently changed record brajo
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 30
Runway Length 3500
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --