Cessna 337-G Skymaster overruns runway at Beáriz aerodrome

Incident overview and flight details On 21 September 2011, a Cessna 337-G Skymaster, registration EC-GDZ, operated by SAETA, was on approach to runway 17 at Beáriz aerodrome in Ourense. The aircraft had completed a one-hour commercial aerial observation flight for forest-fire monitoring, carrying a pilot and an observer. At the time, wind was from the north-northeast at approximately 10 to 12 kt, visibility was unlimited, and there were no significant weather phenomena or clouds affecting the operation. The aircraft’s touchdown on the runway was excessively long, and the pilot was unable to stop within the runway. The aircraft left the runway end and came to rest partially submerged in a pond located in the runway’s extension, at approximately 20:20 local time. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, while the pilot was uninjured and the observer suffered minor injuries. Both occupants exited the aircraft under their own power. ## Aircraft and damage The Cessna 337-G is a high-wing, retractable-gear, twin-engine aircraft with a push-pull configuration: a tractor propeller on the nose and a pusher propeller at the rear of the fuselage. It has a capacity for six occupants and an endurance of more than six hours. The specific aircraft, serial number 337-01687, was built in 1976 and had a maximum authorized weight of 2,110 kg. It was equipped with two Teledyne-Continental IO-360 G-2B engines, each rated at 210 HP. At the time of the incident, the aircraft had 4,172:40 total flight hours, and each engine had 1,294:10 total hours. Both engines had been installed on 1 March 2005 with zero hours. Maintenance had been performed in accordance with the approved maintenance program, with the last 50-hour inspection on 6 September 2011 and the last 200-hour inspection on 27 May 2011. Damage included the nose landing gear, with a broken wheel fork and impact damage to the gear doors, more pronounced on the right side. The left wing’s outer leading-edge section sustained partial leading-edge damage, and the right wingtip sustained leading-edge and navigation-light damage from striking the fence surrounding the pond. The forward engine’s cowl flaps were partially broken on the right and impact-damaged on the left, and the forward propeller had slight backward bends at the blade tips. ## Personnel and aerodrome information The pilot-in-command was 46 years old and held a JAR-FCL Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL(A)) issued in Spain, valid until 23 August 2015, along with a Private Pilot Licence (PPL(A)) issued on 16 November 1992. The pilot held ratings for single-engine and multi-engine piston land aircraft, visual flight rules (day), and flight instructor, as well as an authorization for agroforestry aerial activities in Spain and Class 1 and Class 2 medical certificates. Beáriz aerodrome, located in the municipality of Beáriz (Ourense) near the Pontevedra provincial boundary, is owned by the Xunta de Galicia and had been used since 2002 as a seasonal base for fire-fighting aircraft. Its administrative status underwent several changes, with the Xunta de Galicia initiating procedures in October 2009 to establish it as a private aerodrome. AESA authorized its establishment and opening to traffic in 2012, and it was included in AIP-España as a private aerodrome with the indicator LEBI, not connected to the AFTN network.