CHI04CA166

Factual narrative

On June 26, 2004, about 1245 eastern daylight time, a Beech model 23, N23342, piloted by a private pilot, was substantially damaged when it struck a runway sign during landing on runway 27 (5,000 feet by 100 feet asphalt), at the Saginaw County H. W. Browne Airport, Saginaw, Michigan. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. No injuries were reported. The flight originated from the Huron County Memorial Airport, Bad Axe, Michigan, about 1145. The pilot reported that as the airplane approached the runway, he "felt wind push the airplane up. [He] recovered and continued in for landing. Shortly after the plane simply dropped from the sky and bounced off and up. [He] regained control, leveling wings when a sudden gust of wind caught [him] under [the] left wing." The airplane subsequently impacted a runway sign and came to rest in the grass adjacent to the runway. The recorded wind at 1235 was from 270 degrees magnetic at 6 knots gusting to 14 knots. The airplane was damaged when it struck a runway sign during landing on runway 27. The pilot reported that while landing, "the plane simply dropped from the sky." He also reported that the airplane bounced and that a gust of wind "caught [him] under the left wing." The airplane subsequently impacted a runway sign and came to rest in the grass adjacent to the runway. The recorded wind was from 270 degrees magnetic at 6 knots gusting to 14 knots. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12