NTSB Factual Report

On May 24, 2009, at 1100 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Mileski Zenair CH701, N701MW, impacted trees during landing when the airplane departed runway 07 at Oakland Southwest Airport (Y47), New Hudson, Michigan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight was not operating on a flight plan. The student pilot and flight instructor were uninjured. The local flight originated at 1000.

The flight instructor stated that he had been teaching skids, slips, glides, a simulated forced landing, and side slip techniques in the local area during the accident flight. The remainder of the instructional fight was to be conducted at Y47 where he was going to first demonstrate a landing on runway 07 (3,128 feet by 40 feet, asphalt). The airplane was configured with full flaps on short final for the landing. The touchdown, which was "disturbed" by wind gusts, was "slightly hard" and in a 10 degree crab. The flight instructor then "reestablished" a wing-low airplane attitude to the left with "slight" right rudder to maintain the runway centerline. After a rollout of 200 feet down and at a speed of 25 mph, the airplane "abruptly" pulled about 40 degrees to the right and departed the runway. The airplane traveled an additional 150 feet before impacting a bush. The flight instructor suspected that the nose wheel may have been bent to the right when the airplane touched down.

The student pilot stated that during landing, they experienced "some fairly strong" turbulence that resulted in an altitude loss of about 10 feet and placing the airplane in a "slightly" southeast crab relative to the runway centerline. The airplane touched down while in the crab in what he thought was a "pretty hard landing." The airplane bounced, turned left, touched down again, turned right, and veered off the runway and impacted small trees. The student pilot thought that the nose landing gear was bent during the first touchdown.

Damage to the airplane included buckling of the inboard wing sections and fuselage skin at the wing roots.

The flight instructor stated that the wind was from 040 degrees at 8 knots and gusts at 15 knots. Three weather observing stations that were 13 and 17 miles from Y47 recorded no wind gusts.

Review of the flight instructor’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical records indicated a history of metastatic malignant melanoma in March 2005, with surgical removal of the middle and lower lobes of his right lung for metastatic melanoma in May 2006, and of the upper lobe of the left lung in January 2007. He had since participated in a clinical study in which some participants received vaccine-based therapy, and had “no evidence of disease recurrence” since that time. His most recent application for airman medical certificate, dated April 3, 2006, was denied for history of metastatic melanoma. The Federal Air Surgeon indicated in March 2009, that he was “willing to reconsider” the pilot’s “request for airman medical certification after January 2010” with the submission of additional follow up information at that time. An FAA Flight Standards District Office inspector interviewed the pilot by telephone in August 2009, at which time the pilot did not note any additional indications of melanoma recurrence and indicated that he continued to swim and run regularly.

The FAA medical records also noted a history of diabetes mellitus type II requiring medication (metformin), high blood pressure requiring treatment (lisinopril), high cholesterol requiring treatment (simvastatin), and benign prostatic hypertrophy requiring treatment (tamsulosin).

The flight instructor received his last flight review in October 2006.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's improper flare which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent failure of the nose landing gear.