Aircraft Bounced On Landing, Caught Fire On Impact

A glider pilot preparing for a flight from Oregon's Sunriver Airport (S21) witnessed a fatal landing accident involving a Cessna 441 Conquest turboprop Wednesday afternoon.

The Bend Bulletin reports the Conquest, inbound from Bakersfield, CA, touched down at about 10 am when things went wrong. Pilot Owen Shirley watched the plane as it attempted to land, but the aircraft "came down sideways and the landing gear didn't hit flat."

The plane porpoised down the runway, and Shirley says the pilot was throttling up the aircraft's engines to go around. "You could tell he was trying to save it," the glider pilot said.

Before the aircraft could establish a stabilized climb, however, its right wing dipped, and the plane tumbled off the runway. The aircraft came to rest in a upright position, with its empennage separated, and burst into flames.

Killed in the accident was the Conquests' pilot, Douglas John Sharratt. He was the president of ProSoft Technology, a Bakersfield-based communications technology company.

Sunriver has a single 5455' x 70' asphalt runway 18/36. A nearby weather station recorded light winds at the time of the accident, from the north at six knots. The aircraft was on an IFR flight plan from Bakersfield.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 441HK        Make/Model: C441      Description: 441 Conquest, Conquest 2
  Date: 07/16/2008     Time: 1715

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
  City: SUNRIVER   State: OR   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AIRCRAFT ON LANDING, WENT OFF THE SIDE OF THE RUNWAY AND CRASHED, THE ONE
  PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED, SUNRIVER, OR

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   1
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: 161656Z 05004KT 8SM CLR 24/05 A3014

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Landing      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: PORTLAND, OR  (NM09)                  Entry date: 07/17/2008

FMI: www.faa.gov