NTSB Factual Report

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On May 12, 2012, about 1030 Pacific daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Staudacher Hydroplanes S300X, N336JS, was substantially damaged when it struck a runway sign after landing at Ephrata Municipal Airport (EPH), Ephrata, Washington. The pilot/owner was not injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight plan was filed for the flight.

According to the pilot, he was participating in an aerobatics practice and coaching event at EPH. He departed about 1000, conducted aerobatics practice, and returned for a landing on runway 3. He conducted a 3-point landing, but the airplane bounced. The airplane touched down again, and during the subsequent rollout, the pilot determined that the airplane brakes were inoperative. The airplane veered off the right side of the runway, and struck the 1,000-foot distance remaining sign.

The airplane was secured and moved to a hangar by event and airport personnel. The pilot did not notify either the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) or the FAA of the event until about 1 month after the accident, when he was prompted to do so by his insurance company.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

Information provided by the pilot indicated that he had a total flight experience of about 390 hours, including about 14 hours in the accident airplane make and model. The pilot held a flight instructor certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued in February 2009, and his most recent FAA-required flight review was completed in June 2012.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

FAA information indicated that the airplane was manufactured in 2009, and was equipped with a Lycoming GO-435 series engine. The pilot was not the builder; he purchased the airplane about 2 months prior to the accident.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

The EPH 0953 automated weather observation included winds from 340 degrees at 3 knots, visibility 10 miles, clear skies, temperature 16 degrees C, dew point -3 degrees C, altimeter setting of 30.30 inches of mercury.

AIRPORT INFORMATION

The airport was located at an elevation of 1,276 feet above mean sea level, and was equipped with three paved runways. The accident runway, designated 3/21, measured 5,500 feet by 75 feet. Runway 3 was equipped with non-precision markings and a 3-degree PAPI (precision path approach indicator) light system.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The propeller and landing gear were both damaged by the collision with the runway sign. The airplane incurred substantial damage to the steel-tube fuselage in the region of the wing-fuselage juncture. Portions of the wood and composite wing also sustained substantial damage.

According to one of the coaches at the event, the pilot's landing was hard enough to elicit a verbal exchange between that coach and another colleague. In his written statement to the NTSB, the pilot reported that the airplane "settled on the runway with a slight bounce," but then subsequently stated that the bounced landing "could have caused the [brake] failure."

The insurance company did not make any determinations regarding the brake system functionality. Because the event was not reported to the NTSB or FAA until a month after the accident, the airplane was not available for examination by representatives of either of those agencies, and no assessment of brake system integrity or functionality could be made.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot’s inadequate landing flare, which resulted in a bounced landing and subsequent loss of directional control.