Incident Overview
Two airplanes, flying in loose formation, executed a left break over the runway and entered the traffic pattern before landing on a turf runway. During the landing rollout, the second airplane struck an electrical conduit mounted on a stanchion, resulting in minor damage to the aircraft.
Runway Markings and Obstruction
The runway boundary marker was half of a plastic barrel cut lengthwise. The stanchion was located about 6 feet outboard of the boundary marker and stood 8–10 inches high. Although both the marker and stanchion were visible from the air, they were obscured by overgrown grass during the landing rollout.
Missing Boundary Markers
Boundary markers were intended to be placed approximately 300 feet apart on each side of the runway. However, two consecutive left-side runway boundary markers were missing. The left-side markers ran almost the entire length of the airport property, roughly in the middle of the airport's width.
Mowing Activity
One-third of the airport property had been mowed the day before the accident. The mowed area was approximately L-shaped and included the length of the field to the left of the runway and the approach end of the runway, up to the second boundary marker. The remainder of the runway had last been mowed eight days prior to the accident. The pilots reported that they were landing on an "imaginary centerline" in the middle of the airport.