Smith AEROSTAR 601 N23LL

Summary

On 5 February 2005 at about 19:00 local time, a Smith AEROSTAR 601 registered N23LL was involved in an accident near Murrieta, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 February 2005 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Murrieta, California, United States

Nearest airport

French Valley (F70)

Coordinates

33.5822, -117.1167

Aircraft

Smith AEROSTAR 601

Registration

N23LL

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chino → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05LA089

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's misjudgment of distance/altitude on final approach, which resulted in an undershoot of the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane touched down short of the runway pavement edge and collapsed the right landing gear. The pilot reported no problems with the approach. After touchdown, the right main landing gear was sheared off due to traversing over a 6-inch lip at the approach end of the runway. The airplane skidded off the right side of the runway into the grassy area of the airport. A construction crew was working on the approach end of the runway, but did not see the actual touchdown of the airplane. Impressions consistent with the airplane's landing gear were noted in the dirt just before the pavement edge that became skid marks in the asphalt runway surface and continued to the airplane's point of rest. According to the Airport/Facilities Directory the runway is 4,600 feet long; however, the airport had a planned runway extension and construction was underway that resulted in a runway length reduction along runway 18/36. A notice of the construction and the length reduction was recorded onto the AWOS system. The AWOS notice stated in part "Runway length 18/36 will be 4,100 [feet] until further notice." A 500-foot displaced threshold was clearly marked with orange work cones.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.