Clopton Aero AEROCOMP COMPAIR 7SL N286JL

Summary

On 8 February 2010 at about 16:50 local time, a Clopton Aero AEROCOMP COMPAIR 7SL registered N286JL was involved in an accident near Merritt Island, Florida, United States. 2 people were 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

8 February 2010 at 16:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Merritt Island, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Merritt Island Airport (COI)

Coordinates

28.3414, -80.6853

Aircraft

Clopton Aero AEROCOMP COMPAIR 7SL

Registration

N286JL

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tallalhassee → Merritt Island

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA10CA145

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot of the experimental, amateur-built, turboprop airplane, the airplane was configured for landing while on the downwind and base legs for runway 29. During the final approach segment, the airplane was aligned with the runway centerline and airspeed and power were stabilized. At the approach end of the runway, the airplane suddenly dropped, resulting in a hard bounce. Corrections were made and on the second bounce, power was added for a go-around procedure. The engine did not respond to the thrust lever input. The continued bouncing resulted in a loss of directional control and the airplane exited the runway to the left. According to the owner/pilot-rated-passenger, the pilot turned downwind and at base leg, was exceeding the recommended approach speed by 20 knots. Upon turn to final they were approaching the runway “hot.” Airspeed was 80 plus knots and the stall speed for the airplane was 68 to 70 knots. The airplane bounced hard and a go-around was attempted, but was unsuccessful because the turbine spooling was too slow. The airplane exited the runway to the center median with another hard bounce, then with the ensuing crash. The pilot reported that she had accumulated a total time of 15,000 hours; of which, 3.5 hours were in the accident airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.