Well, that didn't work out too well:
http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/487401_Small-plane-clips-tree--crash-lands-at-Smoketown-Airport.html
Pilot is in hospital and alert.
There is a bridge just northwest of the airport. Power lines and some trees follow the bridge which is about 40' higher than the runway surface at its highest.
One eyewitness claimed he saw the airplane "circling around several times." However, this is normal for pilots practicing takeoffs and landings at an airport.
Weather conditions were benign all day. It was clear and sunny all morning, then high clouds (over 10,000' up) covered the area in the afternoon as winds died.
The preferred calm wind runway is 28 (facing west and slightly uphill). Light winds may have shifted from the east around 2 PM. The pilot may have elected to land on runway 10 (facing east) to land into the wind.
The approach to 10 is unfamiliar to most pilots flying n/out of Smoketown as VFR weather usually means winds from the west. Easterly winds usually mean poor weather and most small airplane pilots are confined to fair weather flying.
The runway has a slight slope (uphill facing west, downhill facing east). The downhill slope gives the pilot the illusion that he is actually higher than he really is. Add in the high clouds and muted light and the runway appears even smaller and lower.
The pilot may have been practicing short field landings. To do this the pilot selects a spot on the runway and aims to land on it. The best technique is to pick an aiming spot before the actual landing point since there is always a short period of float before actually touching down. Most pilots use the large numbers as aiming points (easy to see, at the near edge of the runway, etc.) If the accident pilot selected the numbers (10 in this case) then his aim point should have been before the painted 10. Yet this runway has a displaced threshold since there are obstacles that do not permit a normal 3 degree glide slope to the landing surface.
Conclusion: Attempting to land on the displaced threshold, the pilot clipped a tree and lost control of the airplane, impacting the ground 200' of the hangars.
---------END SPECULATION----------------------
The NTSB report is out:
The pilot survived and received multiple stitches and was released from the hospital the same day.
http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/487401_Small-plane-clips-tree--crash-lands-at-Smoketown-Airport.html
Pilot is in hospital and alert.
-----SPECULATION ONLY FOLLOWS--------
There is a bridge just northwest of the airport. Power lines and some trees follow the bridge which is about 40' higher than the runway surface at its highest.
One eyewitness claimed he saw the airplane "circling around several times." However, this is normal for pilots practicing takeoffs and landings at an airport.
Weather conditions were benign all day. It was clear and sunny all morning, then high clouds (over 10,000' up) covered the area in the afternoon as winds died.
The preferred calm wind runway is 28 (facing west and slightly uphill). Light winds may have shifted from the east around 2 PM. The pilot may have elected to land on runway 10 (facing east) to land into the wind.
The approach to 10 is unfamiliar to most pilots flying n/out of Smoketown as VFR weather usually means winds from the west. Easterly winds usually mean poor weather and most small airplane pilots are confined to fair weather flying.
The runway has a slight slope (uphill facing west, downhill facing east). The downhill slope gives the pilot the illusion that he is actually higher than he really is. Add in the high clouds and muted light and the runway appears even smaller and lower.
The pilot may have been practicing short field landings. To do this the pilot selects a spot on the runway and aims to land on it. The best technique is to pick an aiming spot before the actual landing point since there is always a short period of float before actually touching down. Most pilots use the large numbers as aiming points (easy to see, at the near edge of the runway, etc.) If the accident pilot selected the numbers (10 in this case) then his aim point should have been before the painted 10. Yet this runway has a displaced threshold since there are obstacles that do not permit a normal 3 degree glide slope to the landing surface.
Conclusion: Attempting to land on the displaced threshold, the pilot clipped a tree and lost control of the airplane, impacting the ground 200' of the hangars.
---------END SPECULATION----------------------
The NTSB report is out:
The pilot reported to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector that, while on final approach for landing, he descended the airplane too low and the airplane's left wing contacted a tree. The airplane veered left and continued to descend before impacting the ground, resulting in substantial damage to both left and right wings and the engine firewall. The inspector's postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies.
The pilot survived and received multiple stitches and was released from the hospital the same day.
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