- Date
- May 18, 2024, 10:20 local (16:20 UTC)
- Place
- Wellsville, UT
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N41685Bellanca 7GCBC
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA - Salt Lake City FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240518006899A
- Case key
- 194297
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The pilot's improper landing flare and subsequent improper recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a nose over.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings.
Analysis
The pilot reported that, while landing at a grass-covered site, during touchdown, the airplane bounced slightly, and he inadvertently allowed the flight control stick to move forward, which lowered the nose of the airplane. During the second touchdown, the propeller struck the ground, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wing struts, vertical stabilizer, and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N41685
- Reported as
- Bellanca 7GCBC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 589-73
- Built
- 1973
- Airframe hours
- 2,469.75
- Engine
- Continental S4LSC-264, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Blair Gardner Montana 1 LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Aerobatic
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 27, 2023
- Departed
- 42U · Morgan, UT
- Airport
- runway N/A, 1,000 × 75 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- ADS-B
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 49
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 404 total · 275 in this make and model · 300 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- KLGU, 10 nm away
- METAR
- KLGU 181551Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 13/01 A3006 RMK AO2 SLP151 T01330011
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 28, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N41685 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.