Weatherhead Peter L STOL CH 701 N861SD

Summary

On 29 June 2009 at about 23:30 local time, a Weatherhead Peter L STOL CH 701 registered N861SD was involved in an accident near Hayward, Wisconsin, 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

29 June 2009 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Hayward, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Sawyer County Airport (HYR)

Coordinates

46.0250, -91.4442

Aircraft

Weatherhead Peter L STOL CH 701

Registration

N861SD

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hayward → Hayward

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09CA397

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper flare resulting in a hard landing during gusty wind conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience with the accident airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot had purchased the airplane on the day of the accident. Prior to the flight, the pilot obtained a wind check from an employee at a local fixed base operator. The employee informed the pilot the wind was from 320 degrees at 10 to 12 knots and gusting to 16 knots. After departure, the pilot "found the winds to be much worse and had a hard time controlling the 1,000 [pound] gross weight plane." After several attempts to land on the different runways at the airport, the pilot elected to land the airplane in a field short of runway 02 (5,003 feet long by 100 feet wide). During the approach, the pilot flared the airplane 15 to 20 feet above the ground and the airplane "just sank." The airplane landed hard and the left main landing gear separated. In addition, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot had no prior experience in the accident airplane make and model prior to this flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.