DFW08CA229 · Sukhoi SU-31M
Sukhoi SU-31M · Accident: controlled flight into terrain/object (CFIT) on approach
From Claremore Regional Airport (KGCM) to Sky Haven Airpark/Sellmeyer Field (OK01)
Event
- NTSB case
- DFW08CA229
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Sukhoi SU-31M
- Aircraft type
- Sukhoi SU-31
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N531MS
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Claremore Regional Airport (KGCM), Claremore, OKTo Sky Haven Airpark/Sellmeyer Field (OK01), Vera, OK
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach · VFR pattern final
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Controlled flight into terrain/object (CFIT)
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Wire
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Physical environment
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot entered the traffic pattern in the single seat, tail-wheel-equipped, experimental airplane for landing to runway 35. When he turned to final approach "everything looked normal." On short final, the pilot stated that he saw orange markers on wires just prior to contact with transmission lines. After cutting through two transmission lines, the pilot aborted the landing and performed a go-around. A visual inspection from another aircraft confirmed that the landing gear appeared to be intact. The pilot stated that the airplane was "shaking violently," but was controllable, and the pilot landed safely. The pilot shut down after landing and exited the aircraft normally. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector responded to the scene and confirmed substantial damage to the main wing spar, left aileron, and landing gear. One propeller blade was missing approximately 18 inches. The electrical transmission lines were replaced by the local power company.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from marked transmission lines while on final approach.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record DFW08CA229
- Event ID
- 20081007X93891
- Case number
- DFW08CA229
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 53906e85cdeb456e3172af392cdfd65c39a60cab6a14e89fe53ec26dac5321ef; retrieved 2026-09-15T10:26:08.302Z.