- Date
- September 9, 2000, 18:35 local (22:35 UTC)
- Place
- Homestead, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N823SJack McDaniel Rans S12XL
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000909009359A
- Case key
- 51039
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 pilot's improper flare during landing which collapsed the landing gear.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
A witness to the accident stated that he was watching the airplane conduct touch and go landings on runway 27. 'While attempting a landing, the pilot flared and stalled the plane at what appeared to be 15 feet above the ground. The aircraft dropped almost vertically and severed the left main gear on impact.' Winds on the day of the accident were 340 at 3 knots. According to the pilot in a written statement; 'I made a hard landing on runway 27U (grass ultra-light strip) at Homestead General Airport, Florida (X-51) causing the tire on the left main gear to blow.' The wheel pant and blown tire dragged in tall grass separating the left main gear, substantially damaging the airframe.
Factual narrative
On September 9, 2000, at 1835 eastern daylight time, a Jack McDaniel Rans Model S12XL Homebuilt Airplane, N823S, collapsed the left main landing gear during landing on runway 27, at the Homestead General Airport, in Homestead, Florida. The airplane was operated by the private pilot under the provisions of Title 14, CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The pilot and passenger were not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The local flight originated from Homestead General Airport, in Homestead, Florida, at 1725.
A witness to the accident stated that he was watching the airplane conduct touch and go landings on runway 27. "While attempting a landing, the pilot flared and stalled the plane at what appeared to be 15 feet above the ground. The aircraft dropped almost vertically and severed the left main gear on impact." Winds on the day of the accident were 340 at 3 knots.
According to the pilot in a written statement: "I made a hard landing on runway 27U (grass ultra-light strip) at Homestead General Airport, Florida (X-51) causing the tire on the left main gear to blow." The wheel pant and blown tire dragged in tall grass separating the left main gear, substantially damaging the airframe.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N823S
- Reported as
- Jack McDaniel Rans S12XL
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 01960685
- Airframe hours
- 225
- Engine
- Rotax 503ULDCD1, 52 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Carl G. Smedal
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 27, 1999 · 46 hours before
- Departed
- X51
- Airport
- X51 · Homestead Gen. Aviation, runway 27, 1,000 × 50 ft, grass/turf
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
- 65
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 462 total · 190 in this make and model · 341 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HST, 9 nm away
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 N823S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.