Event CHI05CA007

Factual narrative

On October 16, 2004, about 1710 eastern daylight time, a Cirrus Design Corp. SR22, N555MN, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage on impact with a fence when the airplane departed the end of runway 18 (1,800 feet by 85 feet, wet turf) during a landing at Grindstone Air Harbor Airport (29C), near Port Austin, Michigan. The business flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot reported that he filed a Visual Flight Rules flight plan and that he sustained no injury during the accident. The flight originated from Oakland/Troy Airport (7D2), near Troy, Michigan, at 1640. The pilot stated: I was returning from 7D2 and was taking the airplane to 29C. The airplane is normally based at BAX and I was advised on 10-14-04 that our hanger space wasn't going to be available so it was decided to take the airplane to 29C to put it in the hanger. While beginning to prepare to land on the airport's runway 18, I took note of the wind and direction and determined it alright to land although I knew I was going to have to land a little faster than normal because of the gusty winds. On final, nearing landing and at treetop level of the western runway boundary, I encountered a wind gust from the southwest that made me add power. When I recovered, I had picked up about 5-10 kts of more airspeed. I continued to land because I was now close to the runway. Once I touched down and rolled out a little bit, I began to touch the brakes. I noticed that the plane was wanting to skid, evidentially because the grass was damp. I began to get concerned whether there was going to be enough runway to finish the landing. I was also concerned that there may not be enough runway left to takeoff due to gusty winds and power lines at the end of the runway. I than chose to remain committed to the landing and began heavy braking that was resulting in skidding. I now had to decide if I was going to continue toward the runway end fence, or the hanger or an unlevel farm field that parallels the east side of the runway. I decided to steer for the fence and I pulled the mixture to [Idle Cut Off] and then shut off the fuel. Just before the left wing hit the eastern runway end fence, I turned the battery switches off. After I got stopped, I got out and surveyed the damage. Damaged on the airplane was the left wing, prop, front cowling, right wing tip and a scratched nose gear. The runway end fence was obviously damaged also. I then removed the airplane from the fence and caused a little more damage to the existing damage. The airplane was then put into the hanger. Since I began flying this airplane on 3 June 2004, I have logged 91.9 hrs in it. 6.6 of those hours were with a instructor from Metroline Aviation at 7D2. I have made over 100 landings in this airplane and about 30 of them were at 29C. The airplane sustained substantial damage on impact with a fence when the airplane departed the end of the wet turf runway during a landing. The pilot stated, "I was returning from [Oakland/Troy Airport] and was taking the airplane to [Grindstone Air Harbor Airport (29C)]. The airplane is normally based at [Huron County Memorial Airport] and I was advised on 10-14-04 that our hanger space wasn't going to be available so it was decided to take the airplane to 29C to put it in the hanger. While beginning to prepare to land on the airport's runway 18, I took note of the wind and direction and determined it alright to land although I knew I was going to have to land a little faster than normal because of the gusty winds. On final, nearing landing and at treetop level of the western runway boundary, I encountered a wind gust from the southwest that made me add power. When I recovered, I had picked up about 5-10 kts of more airspeed. I continued to land because I was now close to the runway. Once I touched down and rolled out a little bit, I began to touch the brakes. I noticed that the plane was wanting to skid, evidentially because the grass was damp. I began to get concerned whether there was going to be enough runway to finish the landing. I was also concerned that there may not be enough runway left to takeoff due to gusty winds and power lines at the end of the runway. I than chose to remain committed to the landing and began heavy braking that was resulting in skidding. I now had to decide if I was going to continue toward the runway end fence, or the hanger or an unlevel farm field that parallels the east side of the runway. I decided to steer for the fence and I pulled the mixture to [Idle Cut Off] and then shut off the fuel. Just before the left wing hit the eastern runway end fence, I turned the battery switches off." Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12